Choosing to Leave
by trontroy
Summary: "This is my sister Charissa. She will be helping you all settle in and will show you to your rooms as well. We hope that you will all treat this as your own home and make yourself comfortable."...She wasn't hoping that they would be so comfortable such that they would overstay their welcome, and certainly didn't expect to fall for one of them. XMFC to DOFP
1. Prologue

"So what can you do?" the older man asked her with a slightly perplexed look.

"What do you mean?" she asked equally perplexed as she continued washing the dishes while he helped dry them.

"Your mutation…I've been observing but am unsure. Are you like Charles, able to read someone else's mind?"

He looked at her quizzically and when she met his eyes, she felt herself blushing at the attention. Objectively he was good looking when one ignores the coldness in his eyes, but she personally felt slight aversion to him because of his caustic remarks which he directed at nearly all of them.

"Just because I have two gifted siblings, notwithstanding that one of them is adopted, does not make me the same as them. And if I was also a telepath, I would have understood your question to begin with."

"You're human then."

"Does that disgust you?" she asked coolly, without mincing her words.

She was tired of being polite and playing chambermaid to the new people living in her house, especially to this particular fellow who looked like he was angry with the world nearly every single day. Charles was better with people than she was, he had more patience and his new friends liked and trusted him. Even Raven could be charming. To them, she was only his and Raven's sister who was helping out with the settling in to their new home. He made it clear to the newcomers that she would not be joining in any team building training or exercises but without saying anything else about her "normalcy". She knew why he had omitted that, he did not want to alarm the more self-conscious ones that she was human after all.

She was also slightly annoyed at how he had invited a whole group of strangers to their house without consulting her beforehand. He simply contacted her two days earlier and told her that they would be living with them for an indefinite duration. She remembered conversing with him via his telepathic link, protesting at how she did not know them and it was not his sole decision to make. He told her to stop acting like a spoilt princess and to be gracious and offer their mansion which was too big for just the three of them to the homeless and needy. Raven was also dragged into the link and had to stop them from bickering any further by saying that the strangers were nice and vouching for them personally. She could never say no to Raven, who had always been a better older sibling than Charles, and so she relented and said she would help out. Charles later took advantage of that, she thought. They had previously hired housekeepers to clean up the house every week but Charles had to let them go because of the newcomers and keep only a few to arrive once a fortnight so that he could control their memories and ensure that the newcomers' abilities were not divulged to the outside world. All this meant that she was the defacto housemaid given that the rest had to train to prepare for an attack on the bad guys.

She was still lost in her thoughts when she noticed the awkward silence between herself and Erik. She looked at him and he appeared to be trying his best to comprehend what she had just told him and to think of an appropriate response. It did not take a telepath to figure out that he was wary and possibly not fond of humans.

"You know, you really don't have to reply to my last question. It was rhetorical. We don't even have to like each other. We only need to get along sufficiently so Charles will not be unhappy."

He actually chuckled a little at her last remark before saying, "Maybe that's your ability, being able to have a response to everything."

"Looks like you can add that to your gifts as well." She retorted with a smirk, and feeling strangely more at ease with him. The guy actually had a sense of humour, she thought.


	2. Chapter 1

That first proper conversation that she had with him in the first few days of his arrival kept playing in her mind. And it never failed to bring tears to her eyes.

Although she was sad that Charles had been injured from the incident at Cuba, she was also relieved that he was too busy coping with his injuries to figure out her thoughts and emotions. The sense of loss that she felt when the man she had fallen for had simply left without saying goodbye and had also taken her beloved sister with him, consumed her nearly every single day. It was a bitter betrayal which ate inside of her and left her feeling depressed. She also felt inadequate that he had left because she was not one of them. She could not alter her genetic self, and had to accept that he had his own archetypes which were a direct opposite to hers and Charles'. It frightened her as well to think that he would possibly not hesitate to kill her to achieve his ideal world where his kind ruled. She knew that Charles had forgiven him for being the partial cause to his own paralysis but she wondered if she could get over it as easily as her older brother did.

She thought back again to the last night that he had spent in her family home, and again felt betrayed and unsure about how he really felt towards her even though he had once told her that he cared for her a great deal. She was going to his room but stopped abruptly when she saw Raven exiting, in the nude and in her original blue form while holding onto a robe. She quickly averted her eyes and walked away before Raven noticed her. The whole night she spent thinking of the various explanations that could be possible but she never once attempted to speak with him about it. By the time she had decided to confront him, the entire team had left for the mission in Cuba and when they returned, he was not with them.

She remembered receiving a call from Hank before they returned, telling her to obtain certain paramedical supplies to tend to the wounded. She had recoiled in horror upon seeing Charles in a lot of pain and Hank doing his best to ease that and the blood that was flowing out from her brother's back. She also remembered vividly that she had asked about Erik's whereabouts, secretly hoping that he had not been killed in the fight, and Alex spitting out venomously that he was a traitor who had singlehandedly caused her brother's injuries, abandoned the team and left with Raven to start his own team.

Her heart broke at that instance and whatever explanations that she had conjured up the night before dissipated instantly. His final action cemented the fact that he and Raven had something going, and he probably lied to and used her all the time they had been close. She held her tears back however, and busied herself being Hank's assistant to ensure that Charles injuries were well tended to. She also could not believe that her lover had caused her older brother's physical pain and thereafter, the loss of the use of his legs.

Now that she was alone in her room, she thought back about everything that had happened and felt a huge void inside of her. She was not one that was overly dramatic but carrying on every day in the past weeks feeling alone felt exceptionally unbearable that day. She knew that Charles shared similar sentiments on the loss of his legs, Raven and his new best friend, but unlike her, he had something to look forward to, the setting up of his school for the gifted. For her, she did not feel the same drive or optimism as he did. Life really appeared meaningless then.

And so she picked up the knife that she had brought up from the kitchen and walked into the adjoining bathroom. She couldn't recall what had gone through her mind as she took the knife from the kitchen. She felt as though there was someone else moving her arms and limbs, turning on the tap to the warm water of the bathtub and lifting up her legs to step into the soothing warmth of the filled bath.

Even when she slashed both wrists with the knife before lying down and closing her eyes, she didn't know what was going on inside of her head. She felt an extremely sharp sting only when water seeped into the open wounds, and thereafter a great sense of relief that she no longer had to be alone.

...

She woke up with a start after some time, and saw that she had dozed off in the midst of her attempted suicide.

How very strange.

She felt very puzzled at the realisation that she had not died, and while the bath water was stained slightly red, there was not even a scratch on her wrists.

She took the knife again and attempted to cut herself. She felt a sharp stinging pain but what shocked her was that after what seemed like a minute, her wound slowly closed itself.

Was she one of them?

She thought again about her childhood and about what had happened previously whenever she had wounded herself before, trying to figure out if this was something that manifested only recently. Unfortunately, her mind drew a complete blank. It couldn't be that she had never fallen, or even scraped her knees when she was younger could it?

Should she tell Charles?

She decided not to. Not yet at least. She did not want him probing her mind unnecessarily and finding out about her affair with his friend. She knew that she never was that close to her own brother and she was not about to be close to him because of this. She always felt that he saw her as a child and a liability that he would have to protect out of parental duty since their parents died young. Raven on the other hand felt more like a sister to her than a reprimanding parent and would have been the first she would confide in but her sister was no longer available.

She thought about looking for Hank instead for answers. He was intelligent, well-versed on genetic mutation and may be able to provide reasonable explanations to this new found ability. Plus, he was always obliging and helpful, although slightly shy.

She found Hank easily in his laboratory and asked him her various questions about his pet topic - genetic mutation. He was excited that she was now shared similar interests in this and offered to let her read his various theses on the subject. Not once did he suspect that her abilities were surfacing now, at the older age of twenty-two, and she felt slightly guilty at how she wasn't telling him the entire truth regarding her queries. He even explained to her that the mutant X gene was so unique in every individual that nobody knew for sure when it would surface. It could be from birth, from a young age, or even older (which explained her case she thought to herself).

With this new found ability, dying was no longer a top priority in her mind. She couldn't die easily anyway, even if she tried killing herself again. She began to wonder what else it was that she could do. Did she have other powers that would be manifesting soon?


	3. Chapter 2

"How long have you had these abilities?" Charles asked looking very interested in what she just told him.

"I'm not sure Charles, I only found out three weeks ago by chance. I've been learning on my own how to control them."

"You had reservations about telling me? That's why you kept it all a secret until now?"

"Yes. I was not sure what they were and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them."

"You are considering joining Erik as well." He surmised, sounding defeated.

"No. But he will be looking for me, and I think very soon." She admitted.

If that had happened in the first week after he had left them, she would have been elated and would not hesitate to leave with him. But given that so much had happened in the last two months, how hurt she had felt to be abandoned because she was different, and how he could possibly have feelings for her sister instead, she no longer wanted to have anything to do with him. It wasn't that she had fallen out of love with him but instead, she now felt that she no longer trusted him. Though at the same time, she wasn't entirely sure whether she was interested to join Charles' cause as well.

"How do you know?"

"I felt his telepath Emma in my head. I told her to fuck off though." She replied with a wry smile. Charles couldn't help but laugh at her rudeness.

She continued, "They are recruiting as well I think. Why she even dared to scan my mind while you were around I have no idea."

"You won't be joining my team as well then?"

"No. I don't really know what I want at this juncture to be honest."

"Why don't you just learn how to better use your abilities through my education programme, and then decide what you wish to do with them later?" he offered reasonably, sounding much like the professor he now was with his young students.

"I know we tend to bicker as siblings often do and you find me overbearing like how a parent ought to be, but I am offering this to you out of genuine concern and based on my own experiences as a gifted person. You are my sister, and there are dangers out there which could hurt you if you don't know how to control your powers and fight back." He continued gently.

She nodded in agreement then, but asked, "Will you stop Erik from contacting me then? I don't want him to talk me into joining him. Not now."

"Raven left on her own accord. He didn't talk her into it. He didn't cause my paralysis intentionally either. It was all an accident." Charles explained as if those were the only reasons why he thought she had been hurt by Erik.

She kept a stoic face and replied coolly, "I know."

"Good. Please stop hating him. He always had different ideals from the rest of us, and I am still hoping that he would change his mind and be the better man we talked about before."

She then changed the topic before her real emotions were revealed on her face, "Hank and I discussed my mutation last week, and we have narrowed it down to rapid cell regeneration which helps repair bodily wounds and ailments, as well as a developed mental ability to move objects by sheer thought, which I think is termed as telekinesis. Unfortunately, I cannot read minds unlike you. We are exploring whether the telekinesis was brought about by the cell regeneration somehow, that something in my brain matter decided to grow and then regenerate spontaneously thereby creating this new ability."

"Fascinating. And you mentioned that you have managed to control your abilities somewhat? Can you show me? Just the telekinesis I mean."

She started to move the books from his shelves and rearrange them by thinking of it. It was exhausting but exhilarating at the same time.

He was impressed and then described to her her training schedule with him personally, the next few days.

...

The past two weeks was physically exhausting for her but for once in her life, she actually felt as if she had accomplished a lot. She slept soundly at night, no longer having dreams of that one man who had mattered to her.

Charles also kept his end of the bargain, only focusing on training and not once mentioning about the future. She actually felt that the programme had brought the two of them closer together for the first time in their relationship. Raven had been the bridge for them in the past, and it had been difficult for her to communicate with him once Raven had left, but after spending fourteen full days with her brother, she finally understood him and all that had made him who he was.

He was no longer the reproaching parent, but was more of a nurturing mentor and caring brother who was taking over Raven's role as her older sibling. She used to think that he loved Raven more because they both were similar and had special abilities. But now, she learnt that she had also subconsciously shunned him because she thought of him as intellectually and physically superior. She had treated him like a parent because he was the only father figure in most of her growing up years, and he assumed that role as a result. She had also behaved like a spoilt princess in front of him and he had no choice but to deal with her behaviour accordingly. Now however, he soon realised that she was mature and no longer acting on impulse or emotion, which led to him finally treat her as an adult and she appreciated the change.

She also had not heard a word about Erik or felt his telepath's mind scanning her own in the past week, so she figured that Charles had somehow managed to keep them away.

Hence, she had a rude shock when she saw a handwritten note in German, in a familiar penmanship, folded on her pillow bearing the words, "I wish to speak with you. Please oblige me. I will be waiting at the gazebo at ten tomorrow night. E"

She was full of mixed emotions after reading that. His telepath must have been blocked from reaching her by Charles and he must have figured out that she needed some time to think through things and that he would not be able to simply show up to speak with her. If he wanted her to respond to him, he would need to give her space and to meet her when Charles was not around. Somehow he managed to find out that Charles would be travelling to Washington D.C. the next day in the afternoon. And he was a crafty old fox who knew that meeting her at a former rendezvous location would appeal to her because of the sentiment in it.

What an arsehole, she cursed silently.

She gazed at her reflection in the mirror then and observed that she now looked older and wiser, although there were dark shadows beneath her eyes and a slightly sorrowful but yet hard look inside her eyes. She was like a ghost of her former self, not a bad look per se, but definitely haunted by the past. She was no longer sure what it was that was hurting her. Him walking away without a word after promises of love, him rejecting her because of her former humanity, him stealing her older sister, or him physically hurting her older brother and other various persons that she did not know?

Maybe it was all of that.

She then thought about whether she should tell Charles about this, to get his view as to whether she should meet her former lover. After much deliberation, she finally decided that Charles would be able to give objective advice on this, and therefore went to search for him in his study.


	4. Chapter 3

Charles had his head buried in his books when she knocked on the study room's door.

"Yes Charissa?" he asked expectantly.

"Sorry to interrupt your work but I wanted to let you know that I've just received a note from him." She said and handed over the piece of paper.

"It's in German. You both conversed in German previously?" Charles looked slightly surprised even though he knew that she was fluent in various languages because she had studied them at school.

"Yes. There are a lot of things between him and me that I never told you about, and blocked my memories from you as well." She said referring to her new found ability (though Hank had pointed out that it could be something that she developed as a form of defence from the time she knew her brother was a telepath).

"I wasn't angry simply because he took Raven away and caused your paralysis. I was angry because he had left without saying a word, and he had said many things to me prior to going to Cuba. I had feelings for him and thought he shared the same."

Charles only nodded thoughtfully at her confession, before saying, "I see. Honestly, I never suspected anything, even though I could sense he was fond of you. And I would never read his mind without his consent, so I assumed the fondness was because you were a younger sibling to us. What exactly does his note say? I am not fluent in German unfortunately…"

"He wants to meet tomorrow night at the gazebo outside. I suppose now that I am of use to his cause, he wants me to help." She said bitterly.

Charles sighed before saying with much sympathy, "You felt abandoned because you were human and different from him then. How cruel of him. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you earlier, but I do appreciate you telling me now. Actually, I think that if you are emotionally strong enough, you ought to meet him and tell him how you feel."

"I don't know how I would react if he says that he still loves and cares for me. I don't know if he would be that callous to use my feelings and manipulate me into agreeing to help him."

"Do you need me to be around to mediate then?"

"No, I don't think that will be necessary Charles though it is very nice of you to offer. I will just need to think this through again and clear my mind before I make that decision to see him."

"Yes that would be good. Just feel free to contact me if you need my help in any way. You can use the telepathic link that we've had in the old days. I never really severed it in case you needed someone."

"Do you still keep the same with Raven?"

He shook his head sadly before replying, "She requested that it be cut the minute she told me that she was leaving. It's for the better."

…

She felt as though she was a bundle of nerves the minute she and Hank sent Charles off at the airport the next afternoon. Charles embraced her, and assured her that even though circumstances had changed, he doesn't believe that his old friend would hurt her, whether physically or emotionally. She just had to be honest and let him know about what she had gone through since the departure. Somehow, Charles assumed that she would not deny Erik's request. And deep inside, she guessed she had always known that she would as well.

She went out earlier that night to sit at the gazebo and wait for his arrival. Hank had expressed some concern about her walking out alone in the night, and she knew that he had been told by Charles (who had obtained her consent) about the visit just so he would not be overly alarmed if their security systems were temporarily disarmed by Erik. She jokingly told him that given her mutation, she would not be killed or injured so easily. He then put his furry hand on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze before telling her that she should still be careful. She agreed and felt a strange sense of déjà vu as she walked towards the place where it had all began between Erik and her.

The night was cool, the same as that first night, and she was trying to look for a comfortable place to read without having to deal with the other lodgers in the house. She saw them all as lodgers, even Erik Lehnsherr who had stopped scowling and even smiled more these days in her presence, since their last conversation in the kitchen about her being human. She found the gazebo to be empty and so she turned on the lights and began reading her book in German about the old German myths and folklore. She was lost in a story about an old witch when he plonked himself next to her on the bench of the gazebo, giving her a fright.

"Was ist das?" he asked in German in great amusement while pointing to her book.

She replied to him in German as well, playfully scolding him for scaring her and then explained what she was reading, and somehow they carried on an hour long conversation in his native language, about mythology and also briefly about their childhood.

He talked a little about the ghettos and camps that he was in and she could tell that he was still affected by the Nazi atrocities carried out on the Jews. It made her slightly emotional to hear about the hurt and suffering, but she did her best to assure him by patting his arm that "alles ist gut" now. They were all safe in the Xavier mansion. He said that it was sweet of her to be concerned and his mother used to say the same before she was killed. His eyes also grew dark as he told her that he would avenge his dead mother, and after that everything would definitely be ok.

She never really knew why he confided in her that night, and why one simple question led to so many other insights being revealed about each other. She felt comfortable speaking with him, and she enjoyed using a different language.

When she had finished university she had wanted to write a book in either German or French, and immerse herself in more European literature but Raven had asked her to come back home because she and Charles were done with Oxford and so she did. Because they subsequently needed her help in running their strange new household, her own plans were derailed as a result.

After that night, whenever she was reading in the library or at the gazebo in the evenings, he would always appear to chat with her. She supposed that besides Charles, she was his only other friend at the mansion, and she grew to enjoy his company... a little more than she expected herself to. She found herself liking the way he laughed, and the way he appreciated the same music, culture and literature that she liked as well. He was definitely less annoying than the first day she met him.


	5. Chapter 4

She continued reminiscing in the dark until she felt a slight breeze and heard some footsteps approaching. Her lips felt parched suddenly and she thought she could hear her own heart beating faster and louder, especially when she heard the familiar sound of his voice calling her name.

"Charissa? Why do you sit in the dark?"

She felt slightly uncertain about replying to him. He was using English to converse, and sounded rather formal and even cold. She was also somewhat disappointed that it seemed to her now that his motives in wanting to speak was only with regards to official matters, and in this case recruitment.

Instead of answering him, she flicked the light switch on with her powers.

She looked at him dressed in a purplish maroon cape, with a strange looking helmet on. Besides the new bizarre outfit, he looked the same, perhaps slightly more worn out and tired. He noted that she was alone and removed his helmet.

"You look ridiculous Erik." She said without thinking.

"And you have not changed. Always having to have a smartass remark to everything." He replied with a slight scowl.

It felt as if they had gone back in time to their bickering early days.

She scowled back at him and said, "What did you expect me to say…that I've missed you all this while? That today is the day that all my dreams are coming true because you've finally decided to return to talk to me and explain your departure?"

He frowned at her sarcasm.

She chose to ignore his displeasure and instead asked about her sister, "How's Raven?"

"She's doing well. She is finally free and able to manifest her true self."

She only nodded at his reply.

"How's Charles?"

"Paralysed as you should know … but optimistic."

She saw his jawline tighten as she told him that. She grew impatient and asked snappily, "What do you want Erik?"

He kept his face expressionless and simply stated, "I want you to join my Brotherhood of Mutants. With your new gifts which I've heard that you've learnt to control, you could be a useful team member."

"Go to hell Erik Lehnsherr!" she said with intense anger and hurt before turning to stomp off.

He gripped onto her wrist tightly.

"Let go of me you creep!"

He sighed with slight defeat and said, "I will let go only if you calm down and hear me out Charis."

…

Hearing him call her by the abbreviation of her name which only he used did calm her down.

She turned and looked at him in the eyes and he let go of her as promised.

"I'm sorry that I had left without saying anything to you and that it took me so long to return here to explain things to you. There was much to be done, and because of the change in positions, rather awkward for me to just show up here again."

"I felt used by you… And you seemed ashamed that I was a normal human girl. One can't help but think that your return now is only because I am a mutant as well."

"There are appearances to upkeep and I couldn't simply return to bring a human along. Charles would have told you what ideals my team was meant to adhere to. I am a leader and I needed to set an example. There was never a night when I did not think back about being back here, in this garden, talking to you about literature, German, and life in general. You had made me feel alive, and I never forgot that. Being with you had made me forget the pain of my past, and I am not here just because I want you to join my team so you could provide us with the benefits of your gifts. I am here because there is now a legitimate reason for me to bring you with me, at least in the eyes of my followers. If I had forgotten about you, I wouldn't have requested for Emma, the telepath in my team, to find out how you were. She found your mind shields, your newfound abilities and yes, your rude message as well."

"I don't like telepaths intruding on my privacy. I've had those shields on from the time I found out that Charles was a telepath. Hank thinks that those were my early mutations. Just that they were so innocuous, nobody thought I was anything special."

"I still care for you Charis." He said, in German this time.

"You and your team would kill me if I were still human. If I stay on with Charles, and we had to fight each other, you wouldn't spare me either. You have your appearances to upkeep."

He frowned deeply at her accusations. "Why do you always have to say such awful things?"

"I am only telling the truth. Go on, search within yourself for the honest answer to what I'm saying. Anyway, you can't kill me easily. That's the bitter irony. I found out about my gifts because I had tried to kill myself. I don't intend to leave my home tonight to be honest, so it would be better for you to just go now." she felt that she really wanted to be cruel to him, the way he was to her when he left her.

"You can go back to Raven. I saw her leaving your room the night before Cuba." She added before she turned her back to him and walked out of the gazebo.

"Charis, I didn't sleep with your sister. I don't have any feelings for her either."

"It's too late Erik. I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Take some time to think this through please. You don't have to decide now. Just know that I am sorry for all that had transpired between us since Cuba, and I have missed you all this while."

"I don't really want to care about you anymore." She finally sobbed, and while running away, she turned back and said in parting, "Please just leave me alone."

He looked sad and nodded at her, before he also turned and walked away.


	6. Chapter 5

Hank was waiting for her in the hallway when she returned. He saw the tears in her eyes and asked out of concern, "Is everything ok Charissa? Do you want to talk about it? He didn't hurt you I hope."

"I'm fine Hank… he didn't hurt me, not physically at least, and in any case, he can't either. Thanks for asking."

"You care for him…." Hank said softly as the revelation became evident to him.

"Unfortunately, yes. Please do not tell anyone. Only Charles knows about our relationship and it's pretty complicated. Anyway, Erik asked me to join him but I said no. "

Hank nodded understandingly. "Did you ask about Raven?"

"Yes and I hear that she's fine. I miss her too Hank. If you wish to talk more about her, you can always speak to me. I think I can get in touch with her….even if it's through him."

He blushed slightly that she knew about his feelings towards her sister but he figured it must be quite obvious.

"I'll ask Charles if he thinks it's a good idea though. He is still in touch with Magneto, but on a more formal basis. We have been handing over leads to certain mutants to him, those who are not suitable for our school but need a form of protection." He said.

"I see. Well, thanks again for your concern in this matter. I'd better go to my room to rest. My head has been spinning for some time."

"I'm sorry for holding you up. Goodnight Charissa."

"No problem. Goodnight Hank."

Immediately when she reached her room, she contacted Charles via their telepathic link.

"Charles? Is now a good time to talk?"

"Yes it is. How was your talk with Erik?"

"In a nutshell….he wanted me to join him and I said no. It was rather emotional for me but he told me to reconsider. I heard from Hank that you still communicate with him, on official matters?"

"Yes Charissa. I never mentioned to you because until recently, I didn't know you had some sort of a relationship with him. He never talked about it either, and never even let on that he knew about your abilities. His tone in our conversations has been rather cold to be honest. I like to think of it as his _Magneto _persona speaking. Anyway, besides passing him information on new mutants, I've only spoken with him about Raven. He doesn't say much about her, except that she's doing well. If there was any bad news about her, I would share with you. How are you feeling right now?"

"Lost… Angry…Overwhelmed and uncertain about the future."

"Do you want to take him up on his offer?"

"My heart longs to be with him…but my head tells me not to be rash and also warns me that if I do join him, I would only be hurt again."

"Do you think that he would try contacting you again? Shall I speak with him on this and tell him not to?"

"I don't know…but I don't think it'd be necessary for you to speak with him. Thanks though."

"Why don't you get some rest Charissa, and not dwell on what has just happened? It's late and it sounds like he's said a lot to you which would likely be emotionally draining."

"You're right Charles… Have you ever wondered why Raven never sent any word to us about her wellbeing? I know she's adopted, but we've always been family…."

"Raven's adjusting to a new life, to her independence and being accepted into a new world. Besides, Erik may have told her that he has informed me that she's ok. Don't worry about this."

"All right, have a good night. I should let you have some rest as well."

"Yes, good night Charissa."

…

She had decent rest that night, much to her surprise, and woke up at her usual hour the next day. Nothing looked out of the ordinary except that there was a red rose the colour of blood on her windowsill and another handwritten note in German from him.

"Forgive me."

She sighed and put the flower into a jar of water. He must have gotten the teleporter in his team to drop that off in her room. She knew more or less who was in his team from Charles and Hank.

She then proceeded to wash up and went about her daily tasks.

The next few days went on as usual, and he didn't attempt to contact her again. She kept herself busy with practising her telekinesis and reading up whatever she could on mutation and genetics, not letting herself think about him again.

It was only when Charles returned that she was forced to deliberate on the issue. He simply told her that his visit to Washington had revealed that there was likely to be a mutant uprising on the day some regulations would be passed regarding their kind, and he would need whatever help he could get to curb that riot. He also assured her that it was only temporary should she decide to help and her assistance would not be considered as any indication that she would become a permanent member of the team (unless she requested for that).

"I suspect that Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants would be there as well. Knowing him, he would not miss out on a chance like that. If you do agree to help us out, please bear that in mind and only say yes if you can tolerate him nearby. I want to avoid a violent bloodbath but I do not think he shares the same sentiments."

"It's ok, I'll help you guys….and I'll do my best to ignore him and his silly outfit."

Charles chuckled at that. "You told him that didn't you? I bet he was pissed off."

"Yes, he was rather annoyed." she replied laughing.

Then he grew serious and said, "Raven would be there as well. I am not sure if she would be nice to us just because we are family. Just be careful when you see them. We'll leave for Washington in three days. I'll be briefing the rest shortly and let them know that you'll be helping. In addition, we'll have more training and team exercises all the way until the date of our departure."

The next three days went by faster than she expected and she soon found herself in Washington amongst a huge crowd of mutants and mutant-sympathisers rallying against the proposed new laws that had been tabled at the House of Representatives.

Her main role was to watch the backs of her team mates and to protect them while they protected the protestors. Amidst the masses, she did not see Erik or Raven. She supposed she would never be able to figure out Raven's disguise anyway, so she was more focussed on spotting Erik and informing Charles.

It was when the police came out with their anti-riot team that shit really started to hit the fan. Someone suddenly screamed and there was the sound of a gun shot which led to chaos erupting all over. The protestors started attacking the police in retaliation, on the assumption that shot was fired by the police.

In the disorder, she saw the guns held by the policemen suddenly floating up into the air, and she knew that he was nearby.

"He's here Charles. He's making the guns float into the air."

"Protect the policemen with a telekinetic shield. They may be targeted by those guns. He did it once in Cuba."

She instantly did what her brother told her to, and true enough, the guns soon turned towards the policemen, and multiple shots were fired from them. The policemen all cowered at that moment, and he showed up in a most dramatic fashion.

He was levitating and glowered above everyone, preaching his piece in his most commanding voice, which she figured must be what Charles had referred to as his "Magneto" voice. He beseeched the mutants to join him or be killed by the human pestilence who had just tried to fire at them if not for his intervention.

It was quite a sight.

He was quite a moving orator and if she didn't know any better, she would join his cause. It was towards the end of his speech that Charles interrupted him and spoke of mutant-human peace and equality. And then, the real fight started.


	7. Chapter 6

She didn't know how it all began and which side started it, but the two teams attacked each other and it was after she had used her telekinesis to carry the innocent to safety elsewhere, that she joined in the furor, all the while taking care to avoid any contact (including eye contact) with her former boyfriend.

She saw Raven fighting Alex. Hank battling with the red teleporter named Azazel and she was tasked to take on the other side's resident telepath, Emma, while Charles did his best to talk sense to Erik. Her arm to arm combat skills had improved by leaps and bounds due to the past month's intensive training sessions but Emma was a crafty old soldier who had many tricks up her sleeve. Though she had to admit that knowing that she could heal fast (and not be killed easily) gave her a confidence boost, so she took many risky chances with Emma. But her cockiness led to her downfall and she found herself being cornered by Emma who held a blade next to her neck.

Oh shit, this is going to hurt real bad. She thought as she saw the blonde raise the blade into the air to plunge it deep into her flesh.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Erik yelled as he used his powers to flick the metal blade away.

Emma looked extremely miffed as he did that and was about to say something but he cut her off by announcing loudly to everyone, "Charles and I shall be discussing our disagreement at another time. Azazel, please bring us back to our base. Charles, you should take care about sending untrained youngsters into this war. We shall reconvene again."

And with that, his team grouped up with their teleporter and vanished in a puff of smoke. Raven had not made any eye contact with her but she thought she saw her sister looked slightly relieved that Erik had protected her.

Charles subsequently rounded their team up and they went on board their private jet to be taken back home.

"He stopped the fight because of you." Charles told her telepathically.

She simply shrugged at that and replied, "I wouldn't have died anyway. It would just be bloody painful."

"I think he will be back to speak with me about using you on the team again. What you did with Emma was rather careless. We both saw and for the first time, I've actually caught a glimpse of his actual feelings. He acted on impulse because of you Charissa. And he is also right, I should not have sent you to this fight. One month simply isn't sufficient training for such a dangerous operation. Thankfully you have your gifts but it could have turned out very wrong if not for them."

The other team mates who knew Erik were not as forgiving as Charles.

Alex lashed at her once the airplane reached the mansion.

"I never knew that Magneto was your boyfriend. Who's to say that you're not a double agent working for him."

"We are not dating." Was all she could say with conviction.

"He seems to have something for you. Because of you, he stopped the fight? That's out of character for him."

"Alex, leave me alone."

"If you betray our team, I will not hesitate to hurt you. Your powers may stop you from getting killed, but you will still feel the horrible pain and I will use that." He threatened before leaving.

She ran off to her bedroom before anyone else could accuse her of anything else.

…

She took a long hot shower and told Charles via the telepathic link that she would be resting in her room instead of having dinner with the rest. She just felt overwhelmed by the day's events and the fact that Erik actually compromised his own team mates' safety in a way to protect her. He didn't sacrifice her as she thought he would have.

She had just stepped out of her bathroom in her robe when she saw him sitting at the foot of her bed waiting for her. He was dressed in his regular clothing and it felt as if she had stepped back into the past, when he came around to just spend time with her.

"I came here to persuade you again to join me. I know that you can't die easily but you can still feel pain and suffering, which can be prolonged if you fall into the hands of an enemy. I want to protect you Charis. Charles can't do that because of the way that he thinks." He said to her in a reasonable tone.

"I don't need your protection." She replied stubbornly.

He looked frustrated upon hearing her response.

"I know you are still angry with me but please take a step back and think about the danger that you are in because of your abilities. I am sure that the homo sapiens would want to run tests on you, so they can learn how to use your DNA to help them to create cures to their illnesses and diseases. It's easier for you and me to hide because we blend in with them, but we should not need to hide. We are superior and I plan to lead our kind to a world where we rule."

"Charles was right. You are annoying when you are Magneto." She didn't know why but she just felt that she wanted to be abrasive towards him.

"Please take this seriously. I would not be here again if I didn't care. In the eyes of my team, my role as a leader had already been compromised when I yelled at Emma."

"Alex has just accused me of being a double agent, no thanks to you."

"I will never put you in such a dangerous position." He then looked down, took a deep breath and continued, "I love you. I want to be there for you."

She was taken aback at that confession. He had said it once to her in their short-lived relationship, but because he had left so abruptly, she thought he didn't mean it and had said it without much thought or in a moment of passion.

The façade that she had on earlier slowly crumbled. He saw that and took the opportunity to appeal to her again. He held onto her hand and asked, "Do you still feel anything for me?"

"Yes…" it came out as a whisper and he embraced her then.

"Please forgive me for all the pain I'd caused. Things will be better for us now. I can promise you that."

She cried and decided to go with what her heart strongly urged her to do. She truly missed him all this while. He finally seemed to understand her emotions, and held her more tightly before kissing her on her lips.


	8. Chapter 7

"I'm sorry Charles. Erik is with me now and has convinced me to leave with him."

Her older brother sighed aloud as he received the telepathic message from her.

"Would you be happy with this decision? If it's really what you want, I'd wish you well, just like what I'd said to Raven before. I know that he will protect you as best he can, and so would Raven."

"I won't tell them anything about your team Charles…I can assure you that, and I don't think I will be participating much in their team either. My role there would simply be to help out with the running of logistics at their headquarters, similar to what I'd done for you in the past …. I really don't wish to fight you, Hank or any of my friends. I'd told him that and he respects my decision."

"Thank you for telling me this. If you ever need my help in future, you can contact me and I will do my best to facilitate. I will miss you little sister. Send my regards to Erik and to Raven."

"I will miss you too. Thanks for being such an understanding brother. You take care of yourself when I'm gone."

She shed a few tears as they said their goodbyes, and packed her treasured items into a small suitcase. Erik waited for her in her room and when she finally indicated that she was ready, he gave a sharp whistle and his teleporter appeared in the room.

"Azazel, take us back please." He commanded, while putting his arm around her.

Azazel obliged and held onto the both of them before teleporting all three of them (and her suitcase) to a modern looking building which appeared to be in the middle of nowhere.

"Charissa, I'll show you to your room and once you've settled in, we can take a quick tour around here."

She nodded and noticed that Azazel had excused himself.

He then led her to a modestly sized room with simple furnishings.

"You can do it up in whichever way you want. My room is next door and there's a connecting bathroom. We'll be sharing that bathroom if you don't mind. Why don't you take some time to unpack first? I will return in about an hour. The rest need to know that you're here."

She took out her books first and laid them on the table by the window. There was some writing paper on the table as well as writing materials. She arranged her clothes neatly in the closet and opened the door to her bathroom to see what he had meant by sharing the bathroom. There was another door in the bathroom which she figured must lead to his room. There was already some basic shampoo and soap inside already but nothing for females (thankfully or she would wonder who else was using that bathroom and possibly murder him in his sleep she thought).

She went back to her bedroom and wrote a list of items that she needed to buy to really settle in. Female toiletries was at the top of that list. She then idly wondered how they did their shopping, and whether it was a matter of asking Azazel for a favour to be teleported to a mall.

Someone knocked on her door at that moment and when she opened it, she was very pleased to see that it was Raven.

Raven squealed with delight and hugged her tightly. She didn't look any different from the past.

"I missed you lots Charissa!"

…

"Ok, I know you must be angry that I never bothered to call or even write a letter…I'm really sorry about that but it's been quite hectic here. Magneto told me that he has been updating Charles now and then about me. Is Charles ok?"

"He's better now. Initially he was having some difficulty adjusting to his wheelchair, but everything's all right now."

"Uh-huh….maybe I will call him one day …. It's just hard for now. When Magneto said he will request that you join us, I never thought anything more about it except that how wonderful that you have special abilities like the rest of us. Your room had been prepared since then and while I did find it slightly strange that your room would be next to his, I again didn't think more about it. He was in a foul mood for an entire week when you rejected him the first time. I thought it was because you had been rude to him the same way you were rude to Emma. It was only when he yelled at Emma this morning for trying to hurt you that I finally realised and understood his behaviour. I would never have guessed that he has feelings for you! And you feel the same towards him?"

"Yes. We had been close for some time, but I've never told anyone else until recently." She sighed and then continued, "I was very hurt and upset with him when he left without a word."

"I'm sorry for doing that to you as well….," Raven frowned and looked guilty, before saying apologetically, "And….the night before we left for Cuba, I went into his room…but he said he wasn't interested… I was upset with Hank that night…so I did that stupid thing without giving it much thought. I wouldn't have done that if I'd known about you Charissa. Please forgive me."

"It's ok Raven. He had explained that night as well. I haven't really spoken to him about how he's been since Cuba… has he been happy? And with how the team is going? "

"He is taking the leadership of our Brotherhood very seriously and has made grand plans for all mutant-kind. I think he is satisfied with the progress so far, but wants to keep improving things. I myself am quite happy here and have made friends but you should be warned about Emma. She's quite manipulative, and not as considerate a telepath as Charles. I heard about your mind shields though, so you should be fine but I think she does not like you. For some time, I had the impression she has been trying to worm her way into your boyfriend's bed. She seems to have a thing for men who are in leadership positions, and used to be Shaw's woman. Magneto freed her from the CIA and she wants to be his right hand woman the same as she was for Shaw. He does defer to her for certain strategies but never fell for her seduction. I used to think that perhaps she just wasn't his type…and now it all makes sense to me. She would feel threatened by you. Anyway, enough about her. How are you coping with your abilities? I heard about them through him! How did you even find out about them?"

"I was depressed and tried to kill myself Raven."

"Oh my God!"

"You guys had left, I felt lonely…I didn't know how to talk to Charles and he was dealing with his own problems, mainly his legs…. I just got very very depressed and wanted a way out. I slashed my wrists and saw the wounds closing up. It was a surreal moment. After that, I just wondered if I had any other abilities and it was through several rounds of trial and error that I found out that I have telekinesis as well. I tried learning to control this myself and waited a few weeks before telling Hank and Charles. Charles later developed a training programme for me. It's a strange feeling though to know that the usual weapons won't harm me."

Someone knocked on her door again and it was Erik. He looked slightly awkward to find Raven with her but said in a business-like manner. "I'm sorry Charissa but I have to tend to some matters now. Can I let Mystique show you around the building in my stead please?"

"Sure."

"I'll see you later. Thank you Mystique as well." He said and left.

"I felt like a third wheel for a moment," her sister joked before continuing, "You don't have a code name! Have you thought of anything?"

"I think I'll give that a miss for now. Besides Emma, does everyone here go by their code names?"

"Yup, they do. But don't worry, you will get used to it. I don't think he will expect you to use his either. I can tell that you find that really weird. Maybe we can all call you Mrs Magneto," Raven laughed out loud at her own joke before leading her out of the room.


	9. Chapter 8

Through Raven, she found out that the building was formerly owned by Shaw, was on an isolated island off the west coast somewhere in between Canada and USA, and they had their own generators that provided them with electricity, water and heating. Groceries were bought once a week when a handful of them would be able to take the private jet to the mainland for that purpose. There was a roster apparently, similar to the one that she had drawn up for Charles in the early few weeks for the lodgers in the Xavier mansion, which dictated who was up for certain duties. There wasn't any dish duty because the ultra-modern building had an electrical dish washer. If anyone had to go to the mainland for any other reason, they had to inform Erik and bring along one more team member, just in case.

She also introduced her to the rest of the team, Emma included, as they toured the house. She met the original team formed by Shaw: Emma, Azazel, Riptide and Angel (who used to be part of Charles' team while they were based at the CIA location). Save for Emma, the rest were quite friendly towards her. She could tell that Angel especially was intrigued by her, because she had also figured out that she was their leader's girlfriend and was sizing up the situation and her.

Emma was cold, as expected, but still polite nonetheless.

After that, she met the two new members, Jason and a young boy named Toad. They seemed glad to have another newcomer on board, and Jason was exceptionally charming.

"He's quite a flirt. Be careful Magneto doesn't get jealous." Raven warned discreetly.

She could only smile at that comment and wonder to herself, is he capable of that? Their relationship was still in its infancy stage in her opinion, and besides the initial rockiness brought about by the Cuban crisis, everything else had been plain sailing.

Raven and her ate a light supper in the kitchen without the rest and Raven further explained that unlike in the Xavier household, the team only had mandated group meals twice a week. The older members (namely, Azazel, Emma and Erik) seem to prefer to stick to themselves and avoid their younger colleagues' chatter. Raven liked hanging out with Angel but she admitted it was mainly because of the past history while they lived briefly at the CIA base.

She felt extremely exhausted after that meal, and then realised that it was past midnight. Raven walked her back to her room and said goodnight to her before retiring to bed herself.

She could hear the sound of running water in the bathroom next to her room and she knew that he was back. Raven had told her that he would usually be up until late at night strategising in his study room with the older team mates. He would always be trying to find out about attacks against mutants so that the team could protect and rescue those mutants. In a way, that ideology was consistent with Charles. It was the fact that he would go a step further to hurt the human perpetrators that made him different from her brother.

She changed into her nightclothes and wondered if she should disturb him whilst he was getting ready for bed. However, she also felt that it was only polite to let him know that she was back and about to sleep herself. How they should be carrying on their relationship at that location was still a mystery to her. He talked about keeping up with appearances as a leader previously, so she knew that he would be cold towards her in front of his team.

She knocked on the door to the bathroom. He spoke to her in German, "Come in Charis" and she did. He had just stepped out of the shower and had a robe on. He looked slightly tired but smiled warmly at her, dropping his entire 'I am the leader' façade.

"Raven just left and I am going to bed soon. This is a nice place. You've finished your work?" she said while squeezing some toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"Yes I have, thanks for asking. I know it's quite a lot for you to absorb now, so I won't say too much tonight. We can leave that all for tomorrow morning instead."

She nodded as she finished brushing her teeth. He was waiting for her in the bathroom and held his hand out to reach for hers.

Seeing her hesitation, he said with a chuckle, "You don't have to worry about my other self…I am always Erik in these rooms. Come on, I'll show you my room."

…

His room in the Brotherhood's base looked almost the same as the one he had in her former home. He had furnished it in the same way and she noticed the same books stacked neatly at the nightstand.

He let her look around for a while before he started kissing her neck and she knew what it was that he really wanted. It had been some time since they were last intimate and she responded to his kisses. They ended up in his bed and fell asleep together after reaching the height of their passion.

When she woke up the next morning, for a moment she thought she was back at the mansion in his room like in the past. He had also slept in her room several times but after an incident which nearly led to Raven walking in on them, she told him that she preferred to sleep over rather than vice versa. He obliged her and she would always sneak back to her room in the mornings after she had hugged him and said goodbye to him. The rest of the day, they had to keep their interactions to a minimum to avoid gossip amongst the other lodgers of the house.

It was funny to her though, how she had to keep a straight face if she had to ask him any question relating to the running of the household in front of the others. She knew he was fairly amused as well from the way his eyes twinkled with mischief each time he had to answer her. There was even once when they had no choice but to sit next to each other at dinner and halfway through, she felt his foot nudging her leg, and when the rest were laughing about a joke that Charles was telling them, he even had the audacity to place his hand on her thigh. She had to keep a straight face throughout all that and could only rebuke him when they were alone in his room again.

She smiled at the thought of all those fond memories and he must have sensed that she was awake because he was turning towards her and using his free hand to caress her arm.

"Good morning…I really missed you all this while…" he said while he inhaled the scent of her hair.

"I missed you too," she said with a smile as she turned to embrace him. They stayed in bed for a while, talking about various things which happened in their lives the past few months.

"I need to get ready for official matters soon. We'll also need to discuss your role in this team. All right for you to meet me in my study room after breakfast?" he told her eventually, looking slightly apologetic.

"You're not having breakfast with me?"

"I usually take my breakfast in my study so I can keep up with the news and all other matters that would affect the team."

"Ok," she said, trying her best to hide her disappointment.

"Like I told you last night, I am myself only in these rooms. Outside, I have to be the team leader or 'the boss' as some of the team prefer to think of me and do things professionally. Things are run more formally here as you may have observed."

"I understand. Can I refer to you as 'Sir' instead of your code name though? I find that extremely bizarre to use on a frequent basis unfortunately."

He burst out laughing at her remark and replied, "You can still use my first name. I don't mind that. Just don't be mad at me when I am more business-like in speaking with you in front of the others."

"Yes I can accept that…because it's better than trying to keep a straight face while you grope me when you think that people are not watching." She said with reference to the last time he did that.

He laughed again and said, "Good… come on, let's get ready to go downstairs."

As she got out of bed, she asked, "You're not bothered that the rest all say that I am your girlfriend?"

"No. That is the truth isn't it? I just need to show that I'm not partial to you with regards to team matters just because you are my girlfriend."

She knew it seemed silly but it she felt good just hearing the word "girlfriend".

…

_AN: Thanks for reading up to here so far. Would appreciate some reviews too, just so I know what you think about this and hopefully feel encouraged to write new stuff in future. I've actually finished writing the entire story but am proof-reading again and re-writing several chapters just so the story flows better. _


	10. Chapter 9

They left their respective rooms separately and he informed her that he was available to speak to her at ten o'clock. She made her way to the kitchen on her own and found Raven making a sandwich.

"Good morning Charissa. Want a sandwich too? Magneto should be in his study at this hour. He has a coffee machine in there and Emma would bring him breakfast."

"I see." She said pursing her lips tightly as she felt a stab of jealousy.

"I told you Emma is trying her best to be his right hand woman. Her sucking up to him is incredible. She knows that you stayed in his room last night too. She told Azazel."

"Does she tell everyone here everything that goes on?"

"No, she talks mostly to Azazel and I'm also relatively close to him so whatever she tells him, he tells me. I personally do not speak to anyone else about such gossip. Don't worry too much about her though. She is just upset that her plans to sleep with him have been thwarted by your presence. I can see that his heart belongs to you only."

"What has he said to the rest about me though? And about my role here?"

"Well, from the time he first found out about your abilities… I think he told Emma to snoop around… he told us that it would be useful to have someone like you around, as a sort of defensive strategy. And Emma kind of rubbed it in his face when he failed to convince you to return here. She was already jealous back then that he seemed more interested in you than in her. I was in the same room and he smashed up the mirrors in that room by hurling whatever that was metal around. I remember her saying, 'Did your dear friend tell you to fuck off too?' but she shut up instantly as soon as the metal started hovering in the air. I ducked under the table for cover….Do you want a sandwich? You haven't answered me on that question."

She nodded and Raven passed her her sandwich while she prepared another for herself.

"Coffee machine is on the shelf at that corner, go help yourself if you want a cup. The tea bags are in the plastic container next to it. I try to keep as few metallic items in each room as possible. You should know your boyfriend has a nasty temper and I am just trying to minimise the collateral damage. How did it all start anyway? I still find it hard to believe that I never once suspected you two."

She laughed at Raven's questions and comments, but obliged her sister anyway, "When I first met him and the rest, I was incredibly annoyed with Charles as you know, and I found Erik a rather grumpy fellow. You should remember the times when I used to complain about how sarcastic he was and how I couldn't help roll my eyes each time he was snarky. Anyway, he started chatting with me first, while we were on dish washing duty. He thought I had some hidden ability so he was curious and asked me what it was. I was rude to him but somehow he found my sarcasm interesting enough and I thought he wasn't so bad once he loosens up and laughs. It was only a couple of nights thereafter that we found that we had similar interests and could really get along. We started meeting up each night to talk, and after some time we realised we had developed feelings for each other."

"I never knew that he was capable of those type of feelings…he always appears so stern and cold. Anyway, that's not the main reason for my questions. Is he a good kisser?" Raven asked with a mischievous grin.

She blushed at that question and Raven took the opportunity to tease her sister further, "I take the silence as a yes. Anyway, you're both adults, so it's perfectly fine what you're doing with him. He's several years older than you so it's a good thing. Mature men tend to be more stable, unlike the silly boys who can't even articulate their feelings properly."

She knew that Raven was referring to her own brief fling with Hank in the past.

"You don't care for Hank anymore?" she queried.

Raven only shrugged at that question, and started talking about other various things about the team.

….

While narrating the past, she couldn't help but think back about the day when she had first met him. After she and Charles quarrelled about the fact that he was bringing home a whole bunch of strangers, she was tasked to get the mansion ready for these people. Charles said to prepare four bedrooms for four males, and so she picked the ones at the end of the opposite wing which had two bathrooms along the corridor as well. She figured that four people could easily share two bathrooms. She had hoped that there was at least one cute guy amongst the group so she would not be too sickened or irritated by them. The pantry had also just been stocked, so she busied herself trying to draw up kitchen and dining room duty rosters, the same as those she had been subject to at boarding school when she was younger. He had given her names of the males, but to her, those were merely words, so she let her imagination run slightly wild at what Erik, Hank, Sean and Alex could possible look like.

She thought that Sean was a nice name so perhaps the actual person would be the best looking of the lot. She imagined tall, blond and athletic so she was taken aback to see a gawky ginger haired and slightly pimply teenager starring back at her when the guests arrived and Charles had introduced her to them. She had tied her light brown hair back into a ponytail, and wore a light blue dress to bring out the colour of her eyes (as she remembered her nanny advising her to do when she was younger).

"This is my sister Charissa. She will be helping you all settle in and will show you to your rooms as well. We hope that you will all treat this as your own home and make yourself comfortable." She winced slightly at Charles' last sentence of his introductory speech. She wasn't hoping that they would be so comfortable such that they would overstay their welcome.

Charles then introduced the rest of the group to her. Alex and Hank appeared friendly enough and she actually thought Alex was good looking in a rough sort of way although slightly younger than she was, and she knew instantly that Hank was off-limits because of the way Raven kept glancing at him when she thought that nobody else was looking.

She shook hands with the younger boys before moving to the man who looked like he was either the same age or slightly older than Charles, standing at the corner looking at the huge mansion. He said sarcastically to Charles then, "Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived. Living in such hardship."

Because of his comment, she decided that he was a real arsehole. She never liked people who criticised her or her family for being rich. It was not their fault was it? And it wasn't as if they flaunted it.

Raven made a joke out of that however saying that it was a hardship softened by her and Charissa. The rest had laughed at that, including that man whom she had figured was Erik Lehnsherr.

She kept her stony expression and shook his hand, which she noticed amused him somewhat. His intense blue eyes looked at hers and while she also thought that they looked mysterious and perhaps in other circumstances she may have been attracted, she still felt irked at the jibe regarding her family wealth. He smiled at her when she said the pleasantries about being pleased to meet him but she also felt awkward because of the way he was sizing her up with his eyes and how he had held onto her hand for an awfully longer time than the rest.

Thankfully Charles saved the day and broke the tension by telling them all to go inside for a proper tour of the mansion. She decided that Erik's behaviour must have been brought about because he was an angry person who was unhappy with his lot in life. She later asked Raven about whether her assessment was true and Raven laughed saying that she wasn't that far off. Raven added a little more about how they had met Erik and she then formed the view that perhaps she should be wary of this man. He truly sounded like a homicidal psychopath with a traumatic childhood.


	11. Chapter 10

Her impression of him didn't improve over the next two days. He was aloof and seemed grouchy most of the time. The rest behaved like regular boys but he was overly mature for his age. Which was the reason why she dreaded having to do dish washing duty with him later in the evening. However, looking back at how the relationship started, it was the little chat they had about being human and whatnot that broke the ice between the two of them, and after that evening, she found him less unbearable (and she suspected the feeling was mutual).

After they started what appeared to be a relationship, he admitted that when he first saw her he did find her moderately attractive but extremely standoffish, unlike Charles and Raven. She had to explain that she had felt appalled because he had made that comment about their family wealth. She just thought it was terribly rude of him to make such insinuations.

"Really? You thought I was being a real arse then? Because of that snide remark that was meant to be a joke?" he couldn't help but grin at that.

They were lying in his bed and he had his arm around her. It was only two in the afternoon and the guys were playing rugby outside the house. He had found her in the kitchen washing up after lunch and had tried to kiss her there which made her protest for fear of Charles and the rest finding out about them. He then suggested a rendezvous in his room instead. It had only been slightly more than twelve hours since they had last slept with each other.

"I'm sorry but I just dislike people who treat me as though I had committed a crime simply by being born privileged. I thought you were one of those. It didn't help that you were also rather cold and walked around my home as though the world owed you something."

"Well, it was rather obvious that you didn't welcome me in your home and your coldness did make you appear like a spoilt brat."

"Charles had dumped this news on me at the last minute, and expected me to be your domestic help." She started grumbling and he kissed her then.

"I was only joking Charis. You were helping out as best you could, we all knew that. And I also understand that it's tough for you to welcome mere strangers into your home. Especially a homicidal psychopath like myself."

"Charles told you that? I can't believe Raven would tell him!"

Erik laughed again.

"So if I was so standoffish, why did you talk to me that evening in the kitchen?"

"Well….I really was curious about your mutation. I had been watching you since our introduction and I couldn't figure it out. But you were right when you snapped at me, it was wrong of me to make assumptions. I'm sorry."

"It was a good thing that your curiosity got the better of you. If not for that night, you would be alone in bed right now, feeling sorry for your lonely self." She teased.

"You're really something…always having to have the last word."

….

She must have been lost in her memories for some time because Raven had wolfed down her breakfast and was about to go prepare for flight training with Angel and Riptide.

She thought that just more than two months ago, Erik seemed to be more playful and innocent than who he had become since the Cuban crisis. Charles had showed her his memories of what happened that day, and she knew that Erik had gotten his revenge. She saw Erik emerging as Magneto from the Shaw's wrecked submarine, with Shaw's lifeless body, and even how Charles had been hurt in the foray. But she never knew what Shaw had said to Erik exactly which had changed him and which led him to embark on this new journey.

In their short but intense relationship back at the mansion, she knew about how much he had hated Shaw and wanted to kill him. She had even questioned him about what he would do after he had reached that goal and whether it would be anti-climatic at the end of the day. He admitted that he had never thought about the aftermath and only wanted to avenge his mother and all the other mutants who had suffered at Shaw's hands. She had tried to dissuade him to abandon the killing but only capture Shaw and have him brought to justice. He just scoffed at that and said Shaw was not a normal criminal that could be held in captivity. She had heard about Shaw's abilities and decided that Erik was right about that. She was not keen on the killing but knew that he had set his heart on doing that. She could only hope and pray that he himself would not be killed in that process.

She knocked on the door of Magneto's study, wondering if she would feel awkward about seeing her boyfriend as the all supreme leader of the team and household that she was now residing in.

"Come in," he said and before she could open the door, he used his powers to assist her by turning the doorknob and pulling open the door into the room.

She saw papers strewn over his desk and a cup of coffee half drunk at the side. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of Emma's perfume still lingering in the room. He noticed her annoyance and opened the window, again using his powers.

He must have known that she had eaten with Raven and that Raven must have filled her in on everyone's actions, because he started the conversation by saying, "Emma makes me breakfast because we have daily morning meetings. Azazel joins in as well."

She wanted to make a snide remark at that but reigned her big mouth in. He noticed that and just smiled tightly, telling her in an officious manner, "You will have two roles in our team. Dealing with all administrative and logistics matters that revolve around our homebase and providing us with defence should this place ever be attacked. I saw that you are able to create a telekinetically charged shield? We should keep testing and pushing your limits with regards to that."

"Is it like a nine to five job then? The administrative and logistics matters I mean?"

"More or less. You will need to join in the training which starts from eleven til half past noon. After lunch, you can tend to those matters until dinner time. All that you need to do are contained in these folders and you can use the table in the room next door. It's similar to what you were helping Charles do back at the mansion. Riptide, Mystique and Emma used to deal with these when we first moved in here but I would need them for more dangerous missions going forward."

She nodded and he handed her the files.

"Let me know if you have any questions. I start my mornings in this room until the training starts and afternoons I may leave the building depending on the schedule for the day. If you need to contact me for official business, you can use the radio equipment that will get you through to the vehicle that I'm using or you can contact Emma who will inform me through whoever that's with me that day. I rarely move around outside here on my own. I will introduce you to the rest of the team officially during today's training session."


	12. Chapter 11

She thumbed through the files that he had handed to her and was amazed that they were indeed similar to how the Xavier mansion had been run. Somehow he must have been sufficiently impressed or at the very least agreed with the way that she had been dealing with the logistics back home. She couldn't help but let out a big sigh then, was her future set as a glorified administrator? She was happy to be with her lover again, but she wondered what the actual future with him would be like. How would they actually settle down, and what about children?

She decided to push away those melancholic thoughts away for a while and focus on what she would actually need to do the next couple of days. She personally liked to make lists as they helped her sort out her thoughts and organise the clutter around her. So, she made one to figure out what actually needed to be done at the base on a day to day basis. She was so engrossed in sorting out all the work that she didn't notice him at the doorway.

"It's five to eleven. Ready to go?" he asked with an amused smile.

"What? Oh I didn't realise the time. Ok, let's go."

He told the rest of the team her official duties before training began and she found herself actually enjoying the training session, which was rather similar to the programme that Charles had back home. Thinking about her brother and home made her slightly wistful and sad. But she knew that she'd made the choice and should stick to it.

With the exception of Emma whom she decided that she thoroughly disliked, the rest of the team members reminded her of the guys back home. The same wise-cracks and friendly sarcasm, plus with Raven around, she felt as though she could really fit in with them. If only Erik wasn't so goddamned serious. He or rather his Magneto persona actually made her feel uneasy and uncertain about herself. While Charles had been very nurturing in his approach to help her control her powers and reach maximum potential, Erik's methods resembled those of a boot camp commandant. He yelled at her, threatened and scolded when he felt that she was not pushing hard enough. He even used his powers to hurl metal bars at her so she could use her telekinesis to deflect those.

She wondered idly if it was because of the concentration camp that he had been in previously. The rest all seemed use to it but she felt as if he was pushing her to her breaking point and by the end of the session, she wanted to take a hot shower and cry. Whatever bruises she had been inflicted with already healed, but the memory of the pain that had accompanied the earlier bruises still stung fresh in her mind.

"You ok?" Raven asked when they were alone in the shower room.

"I just feel exhausted." She said as she blinked the tears away.

"Don't take it too personally Charissa. I think he was just trying to show the team that he will not treat you any differently just because of your relationship."

"Uh huh…he's just being an arse as usual." She replied bitterly.

Raven grinned at that comment. "You're both really funny you know. Now I remember both of you bickering in the past. No wonder Charles and I never once suspected anything more between the two of you."

….

The day passed rather quickly, after a quick team lunch suggested by _Magneto, _she spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to use the security surveillance system of the building, and also writing up more lists for the next day. She was still in the midst of reading through one of the files when she was interrupted by Erik/Magneto (she wasn't sure anymore who he was).

"Shall we go out for dinner? I can fly the jet out, and you can also take the opportunity to buy stuff that you'd need for your room." he asked.

"Sure."

"We'll leave in half an hour? I'll see you at your room." He said with a smile (which she figured was Erik's and not that helmet dictator).

She went back to her room to wash up and change into a dress for dinner. This would be their second date out. The first was actually rather unexpected and therefore unplanned. Charles had thought that they were all working too hard on controlling their powers and suggested a night out. Raven and Alex immediately suggested going to a nightclub. She had not been too keen on that, so she feigned a headache and Erik also separately said he was too old for such things. Both of them then snuck out together for dinner but made sure that they made it home before the rest did. It felt nice to actually walk around a park outside of the estate after dinner, hand in hand.

She was brushing her hair when she heard him knock on her door from inside of the bathroom.

She opened it for him, and he asked if she was ready to leave. He was dressed in his usual black sweater and grey trousers.

"We won't be taking the jet tonight. Azazel will teleport us. He's going to Seattle with Raven to a jazz club."

"Azazel and Raven?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged and said, "Just really good friends I reckon… Let's leave now."

She tried her best not to give her sister any funny looks when they met at the hallway, and Raven acted nonchalantly but couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at her when she saw Erik holding her hand. She was still in a state of shock that Raven and Azazel seemed to be going out for a date, so the fact that Erik dared to act like her boyfriend while still in the premises of the Brotherhood didn't shake her one bit. Before she could ask Raven about how Azazel was going to blend in with the crowd at the jazz club, Raven just said to her, "Costume party at the club tonight. Hope you have an enjoyable dinner."

She thanked her sister and they were teleported to Seattle, just outside the jazz club. Erik told her that they would be eating nearby so it would be easier to link up with Raven and Azazel. She felt herself relax more when they were in the outside world, and she enjoyed dinner tremendously because he didn't talk about work one bit. She thought that he also appeared less uptight outside.

After dinner, he accompanied her to do some shopping for her room. She bought toiletries and some books. He paid for all that and she hadn't a clue where he had obtained the money from. She had a vague guess that it could be from Shaw's bank accounts, given that Raven could easily shapeshift into Shaw and get access to his safe deposit boxes. And it wasn't as if she had not brought money with her, but he simply insisted on paying. He was probably old fashioned like Charles, who believed that the man should pay on a date. Thinking about Charles momentarily made her wonder how he was and she thought that she should contact him soon to let him know that she was ok.

She would check with Erik later when they were back if he was comfortable with that idea. She hoped that it would be Erik that she would be speaking to rather than Magneto. God this was getting rather schizophrenic, she thought.


	13. Chapter 12

They decided to wait inside the café next to the jazz club for her sister and Azazel. She was sipping on hot chocolate and sitting next to him while he drank his tea. He talked about some literature that he had seen in France recently and said that perhaps they could go to that book store with Azazel's help one day.

She enjoyed his company that evening tremendously and didn't want to ruin the moment by talking about Charles so she just regaled him with stories about her childhood in the boarding school in England. He knew that her parents both died young and she and Charles had to go to separate boarding schools as a result. Charles had Raven with him so he was never lonely but she was alone most of the time, and took solace and companionship in books. In a strange way, both of them were alike in that they were orphans and grew up on their own. She was also aware that it was partly because of that fact that made him protective towards her. He understood what it was like to be alone, and did not want her to feel lonely again. He held her in his arms then, at the sofa in the café and reminded her that she would never be alone, not with him around. They shared a kiss thereafter, which was rudely interrupted by Raven who cleared her throat.

"Ahem… Shall we go back now?" Raven asked while trying her best to keep a straight face.

She knew from Raven's expression that she was greatly amused that their stoic great leader had a soft spot, and that her own sister was the one who would reduce him to a giant pile of mush.

He straightened his back and got up, before helping her stand as well. He kept his face expressionless as he nodded and she knew that Magneto was back.

Back at their headquarters, they walked back towards their rooms together and he told her that he would be going to his study room to check on some documents for a while before retiring to bed. He also requested that she stay over in his room, and she could wait there also if she wished.

She took a quick shower and went to Raven's room however, because she wanted to find out more about her night out with Azazel.

Raven opened her door with an expectant grin, "I had a feeling that you would be knocking at my door once I heard him walk to his study. No more loving tonight?"

"Raven!" she exclaimed blushing madly.

"Look at your face! I am only teasing. Come on in. I don't want the rest to start gossiping."

She sat at the chair in Raven's room and asked, "I know you said that you and Azazel get along but are you guys dating as well?"

Raven laughed again. "No, we're not dating. He's just a really good friend. You looked like you had a good time with our leader. Maybe he felt guilty about today's training session."

She could only shrug at that.

"I miss Charles. Don't you feel the same at all?" She finally blurted out and Raven looked sad as well.

"I still think about what he's been doing now and then but for the first time in my life, I feel free and independent. You've tasted that before, all the time when you've been away studying. But I've always been hidden in his shadow…. I'm trying to figure out my own life now, and I like and believe in the cause that Magneto is preaching. Humans will never accept me. You can blend in, but mutants like Azazel and I will never blend in in our true form. So it's different for me…. "

"I want to contact him to let him know that we're fine….but am not sure if Erik will be ok with that."

"You should. And I don't think you need his permission. It's your life. You should never let another man control it. I had made that mistake with Charles even though he's a brother to me. Even if you intend to be with Erik long-term, you would need to make your own decisions rather than let him decide and subsequently resent him for it."

She bit on her lip as her sister lectured her on that, and then asked meekly, "Can I do that in your room though? I feel uncomfortable speaking with Charles in my room because it's next to Erik's."

"Sure, you can do that now if you wish. But I would sever the telepathic link asap because Emma would get wind of it and question your loyalty. Believe me you don't want to deal with her shit."

….

"Charles? Is now a good time to just chat briefly?"

"Hello Charissa. Yes, am just about to keep my files and go to bed. I'm still in the study room."

"How are you Charles? I know it's only been a day, but I thought I should check in and let you know that I'm adapting fine. I am in Raven's room now, and she sends her regards too."

"It's been busy here, and I'm fine. I'm glad you are ok. Send my love to Raven as well."

"There's another telepath in this house so we may have to sever our link. She's a real bitch and would hurt me indirectly or sow discord if she knows about this."

"Ok, I understand. You know how to radio or telephone me at the mansion if you ever need to speak. I hope that my two sisters will be happy at wherever you are."

"Thanks. I need to go now. Take care and have a good night."

"You too. Just know that no matter what happens, if you or Raven ever wish to come back, the house is always open to you both. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." She said with some tears in her eyes which made Raven concerned.

"All ok?"

"Yes, he just said that he will always welcome us back if we ever change our minds."

Raven nodded quietly and looked down. The two females chatted a while more before she left the room and walked to hers. She decided that she would prefer to enter his room via the bathroom, to avoid the whispers and stares of the others. The light in the room was still turned off so she knew that he had not returned. She busied herself by reading a book in his bed, but fell asleep with the book still in her hand.

She woke up only when he got into bed.

"Hey…what time is it?" she murmured with her eyes closed.

"Midnight. Sorry to keep you waiting and to disturb your sleep. Tried to finish up whatever I could as fast as possible."

"It's ok. I was reading but fell asleep. Been a long day for me."

"Did I hurt you badly earlier at training?" he looked concerned as he asked that.

"The bruises have all healed."

"I hope you'll understand my actions. I was trying to help you reach your potential. I don't want you to be hurt when we are being attacked. And it's only a matter of time before our enemies find us."

"It's ok. Let's just go to bed. It's late…I had a good time at dinner tonight. Much less stressful than our last dinner."

He nodded in agreement and kissed her goodnight.


	14. Chapter 13

Days at the Brotherhood homebase (that's what he called it so she felt compelled to use the same terminology) turned into weeks very quickly. She had a routine figured out and managed to run the homebase the same way she had helped run the logistics at the mansion. In her spare time, she also managed to continue writing her German and French poems and short stories. And, to his credit, Erik did his best to spend time with her in the evenings as well.

She saw news clippings of the Brotherhood and also Charles' team, and had a rough idea of what everyone had been up to in the past month. She would only be involved in the initial planning stages of each mission, just to keep abreast of the direction taken by the team. According to the news reporting, she was on the guerrilla terrorist team apparently, and Charles' side was seen as more or less neutral but unfortunately people were not ready to accept that mutants could be on their side so they were not looked upon as heroes either.

She knew that she was being deluded and a hypocrite to a certain extent as well, to only share in the beliefs regarding the protection of mutant-kind and not in the rest of the beliefs regarding supremacy that were being preached by her boyfriend and the Brotherhood. There was an internal conflict struggling within her. She was slightly restless at not being able to participate directly in the fights, but also relieved because she could not bear to come to blows with her old friends and family.

In addition, whilst she was happy that her relationship with him was also growing, she suspected that that was because of the way she was turning a blind eye to his views on violence and terrorism.

As time went by however, and as the battles became more aggressive, evident from the battle wounds sustained by a few of the team members which she personally helped tend to, she found herself worrying about him and also about Raven endlessly. He was quite adept on the battlefield and only had minor scratches because most of the time he would use a magnetic shield to shroud himself, but she knew that the humans were adaptable and would come up with better technologically advancements in their weaponry against him and the team.

As for Raven's safety, she knew that Azazel had her back covered most of the time, but she was still concerned. _Magneto_'s plans and attacks were getting bolder and fraught with increasing danger.

One night, while she was lying in bed with him, he told her that he had to go for an undercover mission, and for a few weeks. She tried to appear strong but he could sense her apprehension and fear.

"I'll be careful. Don't worry." He assured her and kissed her on her forehead.

"It's difficult not to be afraid. And now that the people know about you, about the existence of our kind, who's to say that they are not preparing weapons that could take us all out."

"Which is why our work is important, to stay ahead of the humans. And to help mutants around break free and join our cause. We cannot win a war without shedding some blood or losing some lives."

"If you don't make it back. What will happen to the rest of us?"

"You know what to do. Activate the evacuation plan after ninety days."

They had been through the evacuation plan a dozen of times since she reached the Brotherhood homebase. He even simulated the plan with her just to take note of the fastest amount of time she could shut the place down and take whoever was left to safety. Safety would be the Xavier mansion. And the mode of transport would be their jet plane. If Azazel was around then he was to teleport them there. She never asked why that location but she knew that he also knew Charles will never turn them away.

The latest mission would involve Erik, Emma, Jason and Raven only, so Azazel would be left in the homebase with the rest.

The time that night went by especially quickly, and she felt a great sense of foreboding as sunlight entered the room and he got up from bed. She didn't remember sleeping at all that night, she was trying to take in as much as she could, to remember everything she could about him, the way he closed his eyes and breathed while asleep. She even put her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat, slightly fearful that she would never be able to hear that ever again. He finally got dressed and turned to look at her again. He then embraced her, and promised her that he would return. And with a flick of his wrist, the doorknob turned and the door opened, and he walked out with a purposeful stride.

…

A whole month had passed and she felt very restless by the end of it, wondering whether Erik and the rest were doing ok.

She felt like a nervous wreck as the days went by and finally decided that she should speak with Charles, to calm herself down. She was worried about using the telephone in the premises and thought that perhaps using an outside line would be best. She would require Azazel's assistance to get out quick but thought carefully about what to say to him without giving her true intentions away. She finally settled for asking him as a favour to take her to Seattle where they had last visited so she could pick up a book from the bookstore there, and which she remembered, had a pay phone. He could wait for her in the park and after half an hour, she would meet him again.

He obliged her, as expected (probably because she was Raven's sister rather than Erik's girlfriend), without asking any questions.

She felt her fingers shaking as she used the telephone. The line went through and she heard a familiar voice on the other side saying, "Hello, this is Xavier's School for the Gifted. How may I assist you?"

"Hello? Hank?"

"Yes…And you are?"

"It's me Charissa. Can you get Charles on the phone please? I don't have much time. "

"Charissa! Yes, yes I would immediately. Hang on a sec please."

What felt like an eternity to her was probably in reality only less than a minute before she finally heard her brother speaking to her on the telephone.

"Anything wrong love?" he instantly asked in an extremely concerned voice.

She burst into tears at that moment, and she felt his soothing voice inside her head telling her to calm down.

"I just feel so lost now Charles. Erik is…. away…for official business and I don't know when he will be back. All I do each day is to worry and that's driving me insane. I don't know who to speak to. Raven is also away. I just thought I should talk to you. You were always a good voice of reason."

"Don't feel so scared Charissa. It's normal to feel that way for someone that you care about. I am sure he can take good care of himself and would be back before you know it. Am afraid that I haven't seen him or heard about him in a while myself, so I can't tell you where he is. And you can call me from your headquarters directly in future rather than use a payphone…Erik has told me where you all are, so I can help with your evacuation if necessary. It was a promise he made me give to him in exchange for assuring me that he would not attack my school under any circumstances."

She was a little surprised that Magneto was willing to enter into a kind of diplomatic treaty with Charles. But she supposed that it could be partly Erik rather than Magneto acting. The Erik that she knew had a little more compassion inside of him that he would care to admit.

"Thank you for listening and speaking to me. I do feel slightly better now."

"You should take care of yourself." He said, taking some effort to be careful in the choice of his words.

"What do you mean Charles? Is there something that I am not aware of?"


	15. Chapter 14

There was some silence on the other line for a while, before her brother said, "Because of his constant attacks on the government, they have now compiled a dossier about the Brotherhood. And they plan to put your team away fast. I don't know if they know about you because you have never made any public appearances but the secret service is not stupid. He knows that too, and that was why he struck the deal with me. He believes that both of us, him and me, ought to look after all of you. That is why both our evacuation plans involve each other. I also fear that once they find out about you, and about your relationship with him, they will use you to get him."

She swallowed thickly at the sudden realisation of the magnitude of the situation. "I will be careful. I should not be out here for too long. I'd better go. Goodbye Charles."

"Goodbye Charissa."

She quickly went to look for Azazel in the park and he teleported them back. She felt slightly safer back at the homebase but her heart was still thumping wildly from the new knowledge that she had gleaned from the conversation with Charles.

She had been naïve to think that everything outside of their world was peachy. Charles had always been right about her leading a sheltered life. Now that things seemed slightly rough, she wanted out. She lay down on his bed in an attempt to remember the last time she was there with him and in the end just stared at the ceiling, pondering about the past few months, from the time that she had met him until starting out this new drifting-fugitive kind of existence with him.

When she was younger she always thought that love was enough and would conquer everything. Now, she was not so sure. She missed having peace of mind, and the trade-off was a mundane life.

The next few days passed by rather slowly because of the inner conflict within her. But all the conflict vanished instantly the moment she saw him and the rest return from their mission safe and sound. She could not help but embrace him tightly and in front of their teammates as soon as she saw him walk through the front door.

He looked worn out but she could see joy in his eyes as he looked at her. He actually smiled and Raven did the same while exclaiming about how glad she was to be back and to see everyone again. Azazel shook Raven's hand but she ended up embracing him as well, bursting with happiness and relief. It made her wonder what horrors they had seen while they were away.

He then led everyone to the planning room and briefed everyone about all that had transpired.

It was infiltration into a private research facility owned by an outfit that had semi government links. He described the testing and experiments that had been carried out to mutants and how he was planning to spring a prison break there to free the mutants who had been captured. The operation took an entire month because he had to understand the security system and to gain trust as an employee scientist. He had told his employer that he and his 'wife' (who was played by Emma) will be going for a short holiday and just before he was due back, the rest would rescue the six mutants who were held captives there. He showed the rest photographs of the prisoners and while two of them had physical deformities, the other four looked like regular humans. One of them even looked like a brunette version of Alex. They all looked not older than twenty years old and she felt very sorry for them. It was then that she was glad that Erik actually took the extra effort to want to rescue their own kind.

…

Because Erik told her that he would be busy with some more planning that night, she decided to go to Raven's room first to let her know about her conversation with Charles.

Raven initially expressed some surprise that Azazel had helped teleport her to Seattle to use the payphone but was even more shocked to learn about the pact between Charles and Magneto.

"Well, I guess he has to worry about protecting you. Even though he never once said it, we could tell that he was rather affected by the mutant testing and research that was carried out in the labs, and he was mostly concerned that they would want to carry out all that research on someone like you. The cure to all of mankind's diseases. He let it slip once when we were alone in our quarters that humans were cruel and selfish and that their main aim was to find that cure afterall. Emma and I knew he was referring to you somehow. Why do you think that he keeps you hidden here? With all the CIA hot on our heels and with our files, I bet you that they do not have a thing on you. If anything, you'll still be classified as Charles' human sister. Charles probably knows that and that you're Erik's one weakness. That's why he agreed to that evacuation arrangement. You're also Charles' leverage, and he would never realise or admit it."

Raven seemed to have matured somewhat and what she said, while it hurt, also had logic in it.

"I've been thinking of leaving Raven, before I feel more pain. I know it seems like being a coward, but I don't know if I'm suited to be part of this fight. The agony of waiting to hear from your loved one, leading the life of a fugitive….I can't bear it. And I know it is just a huge cop out on my part. I feel tired of this. I don't know what my future with him is like. And it's stupid but hearing about how Emma got to pretend to be his wife also hurt me. I don't know if I can ever progress to that kind of relationship with him. And what about children? I know that most girls tend to romanticise about marriage and family, but I do want to settle down at some point. I don't know what to make of this type of renegade guerrilla existence…. Makes the settling down seem like an extremely distant or even unlikely future."

Raven nodded sympathetically and hugged her younger sister.

"Maybe you're just over analysing for now. You've been here for three months, and yes slightly more than a month had been waiting for him to return…. But perhaps if you give it a chance for the next couple of months, you may feel more settled down. It could be anxiety that has been making you think this way. He's just returned and we could all see how happy you both were to see each other. So why not just try taking the relationship slow from now and slowly figure out what you want from it. Maybe you could ask him as well what he thinks the future holds for the both of you."

Raven observed her for a while before continuing, "Our fight against being discriminated against is a good thing too. You're a new mutant and probably haven't seen or heard enough about such discrimination but a month of living at the research centre really shook me up and made me realise that we've all been very sheltered and lucky to be able to hide all this while. Some of the test subjects have been living there since they were children. It's a living hell."

"Who were you masquerading as when you were there?" she asked her curiosity slightly peaked.

Raven grinned on hearing that question and changed her form into a fourteen year old that looked a lot like herself when she was that age.

"I was their teenage daughter. But to keep your dear boyfriend from straying, I took on your younger form." She laughed gleefully.

"Wasn't he pissed though? I don't think he would appreciate the joke."

"Yea, he was but it was all too late. Emma had applied for our passes and I'd taken a photo with that face without him knowing. Anyway, he got used to it eventually."


	16. Chapter 15

She went straight to his room to sleep, after she had finished chatting with Raven. That was something which she had been accustomed to and she had not once slept in her own room since the day she left her old home.

The lights were turned on and she figured that he must be back. He was in the shower however, so she just slipped into his bed and waited for him.

She could feel her eyelids growing heavier with each passing second and she tried to close them for a while, but her eyes immediately opened when the door of the bathroom swung open and he strode out. His eyes narrowed for a moment when he saw her, and he quickly picked up his helmet and put it over his head for a while before removing it again.

She was puzzled at the strange behaviour and her expression gave herself away.

He looked slightly embarrassed and sat down in bed next to her, "I'm sorry about that. It was just random paranoia, about whether my head's been tempered by a telepath. I'm still slightly dazed to be back after so long."

"Emma." She said softly.

"Yes… as you know, Emma pretended to be my wife and Raven our daughter while we were there, and we had our own staff sleeping quarters. I had a share a bed with Emma and initially I wore the helmet to bed and she said if anyone saw, they would question. In any case, she was a loyal follower so she wouldn't be invading my mind without my permission. The second week all was well. But the third week she made some advances. She offered to be my bed warmer, and to even project your images in my head if I so wished. I turned her down, but needless to say, the helmet returned. Seeing you here now, is surreal and I wasn't sure if she was still playing games with me so I had to check."

He looked exhausted as he told her all that. She simply took his hand in hers and told him that she was glad that he was back. It seemed that now wasn't the time to talk about all that she had been going through internally.

"Emma is probably just lonely and is looking for a man to fill the void that Shaw left when you killed him." She found herself saying and he simply nodded.

"How have you been while I was away?"

"Ok… I was just tending to the usual administrative matters here. I was worried sick about you and Raven, especially at night when I'm alone. That's when it all hurts the most, and my thoughts go wild. I eventually telephoned Charles to just talk to someone familiar. That helped. He was his usual nurturing self."

"You miss him….and home…" he said with a huge sigh as he used his hand to push her hair away from her face.

"Yes. I do… But I also want to be with you. And I made that choice previously."

"You worry about our future don't you?" he said as if able to read her mind.

"I can't say that I don't." she replied choosing her words carefully.

"I'm sorry for not being able to provide you with a stable life, and it won't be a peaceful one anytime soon either. There are many battles ahead in our struggle against humanity. But I can promise to love and protect you in all this. And I do want you as the only woman in my life, to be with me by my side as we fight. It would hurt me if you return to Charles. He won't be able to protect you the way I can." He said taking her into his arms.

That felt strangely satisfying, and comforting. She fell asleep in his arms that night and she felt safe, which was something she hadn't felt in a long while.

…

She stopped having the instinct to flee once he was back and it helped that he didn't have to disappear for more than a week in the subsequent missions. Before long, a whole year had passed and their team grew in number. She had also earned the respect and trust of the other team members in the past year and although she never had to use her powers to defend the building, she never doubted her utility in the eyes of the team.

By then, Raven and Azazel had also started dating and the four of them would go out some nights together. She knew that it was still far from the peaceful life she had had previously at the Xavier mansion, she was blissful to be with the man she truly loved. Even though it hurt her inside to think that he could not give up his vendetta against humanity, she thought she had found herself slowly accepting it.

It was only when he was badly wounded in a recent battle that she found herself questioning him and his actions again. They also fought for the first time about it, right after he returned to their room after having to stay in the infirmary for two weeks due to his wounds.

"Why can't you just give it up? They now know about our existence partly because of your attacks on them. I am not being sympathetic towards the humans but they have a right to defend themselves as well you know? And their weapons are now more sophisticated because they don't want to be annihilated by you. That's why you're so badly hurt this time."

"You know why I am fighting. It's not for me; it's for you and all of us. If we don't wipe them out now, while we have the upper hand, they would wipe us out. And mutants like you would be captured and tested for their own selfish purposes. I've seen and been in those labs before."

"You've never thought about how I feel in all of this have you? From the time you disappeared without a trace for that undercover job, and each time you go for one of these missions…. I always fear the worse. It's bloody upsetting and downright nerve wrecking. The CIA keeps files on you. They know your weaknesses, and they will use those to put you down."

"That's why I keep you here." He hissed back. "_You_ are my biggest weakness. And you dare question me about all that I've done. Don't you realise that everything I've done is for your protection. It's always to protect you."

She burst into tears at that moment. "I don't want your protection if you're going to get killed in the process. You know that it will take a lot less to kill you than me."

He stormed out of the room then, and slammed the door behind him.

She just continued to cry softly. She felt really helpless and useless.

She went back to her own room and started writing in her book. She had been writing her own version of a traditional European fairy tale but she knew it was actually a parody of her own life. Her brother Charles was the old wise king in the story and she was a princess who had run off with a brave knight. Raven was a fairy godmother in the story as well, and she had even written a part for Azazel recently. For her, writing was a way in which she could vent her frustration and to create an alternate reality for her to escape into.

After writing for over an hour, she decided to read in the recreation room downstairs. She knew that the rest would be sleeping by then, since it was past midnight, so she would be able to have some peace and quiet.

She found the past week's newspapers strewn over the coffee table and decided to stack them up neatly. The cover headlines of one of them made her blood turn cold for a moment. A partial view of Erik's face was on it and it was a report of how he had shot several persons in cold blood at another research facility. She knew that it was probably because there were mutants being tested on at that facility but to kill the employees there, who were just following instructions and making a living for themselves. She just couldn't deal with that at that moment. Inside of her, she knew that there were those sorts of collateral damage in the kind of "work" that he was involved in, but reading it in the newspapers affected her in a different manner. She tried rationalising that it could be because they had just argued over the same subject and her feelings and nerves on that matter were still raw, hence the horrible emotions surfacing from her as she read the news. She cried again and decided it was best to hide in her bedroom instead.


	17. Chapter 16

_A/N: Sorry, just realised that there had been a formatting error for this chapter. Had just rewritten and adjusted some bits._

_..._

She slept in her bedroom that night and refrained from any form of contact, including eye contact with him the next day. In a strange way, she was also secretly hoping that he was still simmering from his own anger and would not bother with her as well.

After team dinner that night, she told Raven that she was not feeling well and wanted to lie down. He looked slightly concerned then but before he could speak with her or even offer to accompany her to her room, she simply turned and walked briskly away.

She locked her room and bathroom door that night, knowing that he would get the message should he wish to find her. She took some sleeping pills and slept, with the hope that sleep would be the perfect balm to her pain.

She had many nightmares that night and woke up with a start at the one which was most vivid and which showed him dead at the hands of a mob of people he was trying to kill. She was drenched with perspiration and shaking all over as she recalled the images of him falling at the feet of the mass of humans. It wasn't that she had little faith in him, but she knew that humans were also survivors and anyone being cornered would do his best to fight to live. It was either them or him. How many can he possibly kill! He was no better than the Nazis who had incarcerated his Jewish family. But she knew better than to let him know of that comparison.

The next day felt no different than the previous, and again she tried to avoid him and at night she simply made herself a sandwich and took it to her room for dinner. She read a book whilst eating her sandwich and took a quick shower before he returned, so she could avoid even meeting him at their shared bathroom.

She took the same amount of sleeping pills again that night and went to bed early.

Halfway through the night, she had the same nightmares and the crowd seemed more deadly and ferocious this time. She was holding the hand of a child as she screamed with fear while she watched them kill him, before they all noticed her and came towards her.

"Charis, everything's ok…it's all a bad dream," she heard him say to her and she opened her eyes then. His one hand was cupping her face tenderly while the other was smoothing her hair back and she realised it had all been a dream. He had used his powers to open her door when she screamed aloud and was now in her bed holding her and trying his best to calm her down.

When he saw that she was sufficiently calm, he said gently, "I'm sorry about the other day. I felt frustrated that you wanted me to give up the team, to give up all that we've been working towards. I know you were just expressing your concern…. And like I told you before, I can't promise you anything more than protection. If you're unhappy… and I know that you are… is there anything else that I can do? That I can change for you?"

She just sighed as she felt the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"You won't give it all up for me. And I know it's foolish of me to hope that one day you would. I thought that I had accepted it, and was content the past year with just being with you…. But each time you put your life in danger because of your agenda, I just find myself questioning the choices that I'd made. Maybe we just need some time apart for a while."

"Are you going to leave?" he asked with disbelief.

"No…not yet anyway… I will go on living here for a while…until I figure out what it is that I want."

He nodded sullenly, and then asked, "What were your nightmares about?"

"You dying."

He kept quiet for a while and then said, "Are you feeling ok now? I can go back to my room if you want to be alone."

"Yes, I'm ok, and yes I would prefer to be alone. Thank you."

She heard the door click shut, and she was alone in the dark again. She cried herself to sleep that night.

...

Thankfully she stopped having nightmares the rest of the night. Instead, she dreamt about the past, when their relationship was at its infancy stage...

It was around dinner time and she had written some poetry in German. She thought of sharing that with her new friend, and immediately got up to make her way to his room without much thought.

She was pleasantly surprised to see him standing just outside her door. He laughed upon seeing her expression and asked greatly amused, "Why are you looking at me like that? I couldn't have frightened you?"

"I was just about to go to your room to show you what I've just written."

"Can it wait til after dinner? I came here to walk you down to dinner. We practised using and controlling our powers earlier, and I made exceptional progress! As a result, I'm rather famished as well," he continued excitedly.

"Congratulations! And your idea of sharing your joy with me is to simply walk with me to dinner?" she teased.

He looked thoughtful and serious then.

"I'm only joking Erik!"

"No...you're right. Ok, as a compromise for my lack of thought earlier...show me what you've written first. We can eat later... the rest won't be downstairs so soon anyway." he said with a smile.

She led him into her room and sat him down at the small sofa inside, pushing the small book into his hand.

Because he took so long to pore through it, she thought it was incomprehensible or terribly written.

"Is it that bad?" she asked, as she sat next to him to try to read along.

"No, it's very well written...I'm impressed..." he said looking back at her.

Their faces were only inches apart and he took the opportunity to lean forward to kiss her.

She woke up the next morning feeling melancholic because of the bittersweet memory of the dream of their first kiss fresh on her mind. She knew that somehow things between them would never be the same again.


	18. Chapter 17

The next week passed by fairly quickly and she kept herself busy in the day time with her usual work, and at night with her books. She hadn't thought about her relationship woes and was happy to just be alone. Raven noticed her being more aloof than usual and asked if everything was ok. She had to lie to her sister and said she was just fighting off general fatigue because she hadn't been sleeping well. Raven also told her that she knew that she and Erik had been fighting because his moods have not been great either. She just shrugged and said it was a simple disagreement which could be easily sorted out.

She could tell that Raven wasn't entirely convinced but still refrained from probing further nonetheless.

She wondered if she should get in touch with Charles again, to just see how he had been getting on. The last time she called was several months ago, to wish him a Merry Christmas. But she knew that he would only ask her about her life and she would have to lie to him as well.

The start of the second week felt worse however, because she no longer knew whether she was truly happy. She had bad mood swings from time to time which could leave her with tears in her eyes. And she felt physically ill at the sight, smell and taste of food. She wondered if she was entering into a form of depression. It was when she suddenly blacked out in the middle of physical training with some of the teammates that made her realise that she was physically unwell. Was that even possible, given her genetic make-up? Her teammates were concerned and she brushed the incident as a momentary lapse of concentration. Erik was present then but refrained from scolding her as he used to, and merely stared at her wondering if she was telling the truth.

She decided that she needed to consult a doctor. She thought of Hank instantly, who although wasn't medically trained, he knew more than enough about mutant genetics and anatomy to be able to provide her with sound advice.

She also decided to speak with Azazel to get him to help her see Hank. She admitted to Azazel that she had not been feeling well but because she did not want to burden Raven or Erik with her physical ailments, she needed his help to consult Hank in secret. Azazel looked slightly worried and expressed surprise that she could be ill. She then told him that that was why there was the lapse during training. Because he remembered it, he therefore agreed to help transport her back to the mansion. She thanked him profusely for his help and then told him that she would telephone Hank first to check if he was available that day.

She felt extremely nervous to be back at the mansion, in Hank's laboratory, in such a clandestine manner. Azazel offered to leave and be back in an hour for her, so that Charles and the rest need not know that he had been around. Hank looked worried to see her, and had been in fact extremely concerned about her wellbeing from the time she contacted him about it. He promised her that he would not say a word to Charles about her visit, and proceeded to take her blood for testing. He also conducted several other tests.

At the end of forty-five minutes, he had the results and looked rather flushed while reading the papers in his hand.

"Is it bad Hank?"

"No….not quite…. Erm…. You're pregnant Charissa."

She stared at him incredulously.

"You didn't keep track of your menstrual cycle?"

That question reminded her that she had been two weeks' late. The stress and emotional upheaval that she went through with Erik made her forget about that fact somehow. And now there was going to be a baby.

…

Her staring into space must have spooked Hank out somehow.

"Are you ok Charissa?" he asked looking rather anxious.

"I….I don't know what to say Hank. That was rather unexpected news."

"I wasn't sure whether to congratulate you initially…. But judging from your reaction….I guess I shouldn't? What are your plans? Do you need me to help in any other way? You would need to see a proper obstetrician to check that the baby is ok though. I'm afraid I don't have that type of equipment."

"Thanks….you have done more than enough for me. Are you able to tell if the baby is also a mutant?"

"If both parents are mutants, then it's very likely that the X gene would be passed to the baby as well."

She sighed upon hearing that.

"Do you think I should tell Charles about this as well? To get his advice? I feel quite lost now really."

"You should talk to Erik first. He needs to know."

"We aren't exactly on talking terms now." She muttered.

Hank nodded sympathetically and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know that he can be stubborn….but he does care for you."

"I'm just worried about the kind of life our baby would lead. He would probably enlist our child as his soldier, to fight his war when the child is old enough." She added bitterly. "It's bad enough that I have to be afraid to see him losing his life constantly…but to have to worry about the baby's life and wellbeing as well?"

She looked at Hank sadly before continuing, "I'm sorry Hank. I shouldn't be rambling on and on about this now. I guess I'm just overwhelmed in general. It will get better I'm sure."

"Yes, don't worry about it Charissa. You have pregnancy hormones inside of you….so you're going to be more emotional than usual. It should get better as the pregnancy progresses."

She nodded in agreement and then said, "Thank you again for your help. I should get going now. Azazel will be back to teleport us home."

"You're welcome. Feel free to contact me again if you need my help."

Azazel brought her back as promised and only asked her if it all went ok, out of concern. She said that it was not as bad as she expected and he left it as that.

She broke down in her room however and quietened down only when she saw the lights of the bathroom come on. She did not want him to find out about this, not now at least.

She really had no clue what she should do. Should she leave? Can she even do that without him knowing? And then where should she go? Not to Charles for sure because Erik would find her easily and she knew that he would convince her to go back once he had found her.

While lost in her own thoughts, she heard a soft knock on her bathroom door. She sighed and then proceeded to open it, knowing full well who it was.


	19. Chapter 18

"Are you ok?" he asked looking apologetic and concerned.

"Yes. I am fine. I went to see Hank and he ran a few tests on me. Nothing's wrong with me." She must have sounded a tad too defensive because he looked worried.

"What did Hank say?"

"I'm just tired that's all. That's why I blacked out."

"You haven't really been eating much either."

"Stop interrogating me. I'm tired and wish to rest."

He pushed his way into the room and shut the door.

"I know you're still upset with me but please stop pushing me away, especially when it concerns your health."

She kept silent and he looked frustrated.

"Don't make me go to Hank for answers instead."

"He won't tell you anything."

"I will make him."

"The same way you make the humans give in to you huh." She replied sarcastically.

The metal in her room starting to vibrate and she knew that she had touched a raw nerve in him.

He narrowed his eyes and then said in a low and dangerous voice, "Does Charles know?"

"No."

"I know that something's affecting you. Why don't you just stop playing games and tell me!" he raised his voice at her and she snapped.

"Because I don't know what to do about it!" she yelled back not caring if the rest of the team could hear them arguing.

He was taken aback at her outburst and she lashed out at him, "I'm pregnant and I don't want an innocent child to be brought into this world where there's fighting and unrest. I don't think we'd be good parents, and I don't want the child to be forced to fight _your_ war…" she started to cry again.

He sat down and the look on his face was incomprehensible. She figured that joy wasn't part of his emotions and she felt herself get angry.

"I will be leaving."

"Don't I have any say in this? It's my baby as well."

"You obviously don't want it."

"And how did you figure that out? I never knew you were a telepath as well." he replied equally sarcastic. They could go on fighting that way the entire night, because both of them were equally stubborn.

…

She glared back at him but was surprised to see him actually relent and give in to her this time.

He held onto her hand and said gently, "Charis, I'm sorry about a lot of things that we fought about the other time. But I still care for you, and I do want to have a family with you. I was just surprised by the news, and it brought back some former memories of my time in Europe after the war. I'd told you about my first wife before who died a few years after we were married. What I didn't mention was that we had a daughter as well who also passed away. It was all quite painful remembering that even though I was very young then. I don't want you to leave. Please stay."

She didn't have a response to his words this time. She felt sorry for him, for his loss and at that moment, she felt that she didn't have the heart to leave him. Inside of her, she always knew that he would say the right words to make her stay.

He saw the hardened look in her eyes disappear and embraced her tightly, promising her of a better tomorrow and how he will always be there for her and their baby.

She used to take comfort in those words in the past but something had changed inside of her. She felt hollow listening to him. While she loved him a lot, she was no longer sure if being with him was a good thing. If she was still alone, and not having to think about an innocent baby, she would stick around and enjoy whatever little time they had together. But having a baby to think about, made her reconsider the life ahead with him.

He probably could sense the change of heart in her, because he kissed her then with more passion than she remembered them ever having together. Whether it was pure insecurity or just lust on his part, she didn't know, and she didn't want to fight him so she gave in to him and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Sleep was a great reprieve for her. No longer having to deal with the responsibilities that lie ahead of her as a mother.

She woke up before he did the next day, and she started pondering about her options. She knew that she had to leave him for the sake of their child, no matter how difficult it was to do so. She looked at him who was still deep in slumber, and she teared a little, realising that she may never be with him again once she left the premises, because he would never change for her and she can never be with Erik Lehnsherr when he still wants to be Magneto. In a way, he was the same as the man he had killed, Sebastien Shaw. He would never admit it, but she could see their similarities. No wonder Emma found him attractive as well. She thought with a tinge of bitter irony.

He would never let her go if he knew of her plans, because in his mind, his role was to protect her, and now, to protect their baby as well.

She thought again about several means of running away and finally settled on one. It seemed foolproof but she had to be patient.

She put her head on his chest and tried to tell herself that it's all for the better, and she was doing it precisely because she loved him and wanted to save his child from his own destruction. His hand made its way to her hair as she held onto him, and stroked her for a while. She felt like a little child then, someone desperately pining for affection. She whispered to him "I love you" and closed her eyes again.


	20. Chapter 19

The next week felt incredibly slow to her, and she knew he was watching her every move, unable to convince himself that she was indeed staying on with him. With her plan already put into place in her mind, all she had to do was to find that opportune moment to execute it.

She wrote in her book while waiting for that time to arrive. She wanted to finish the story before she left anyway, to write in the happy ending which was not going to happen to her in real life. The princess and the knight were married in her version after he had given up chasing the dragons, and they had many beautiful children. They also went to live with the king again and everyone lived happily ever after.

She acknowledged that she was childish to harbour such thoughts, but that's precisely the whole point of fiction, to write about the impossible. It was tempting to start preparing a farewell note to him as well, but too risky to pre-write one at this juncture.

The chance to escape finally came another week later. By then, he was slightly more relaxed as well, and she had acted as though they had never fought, so he felt more secure. Nobody knew about her pregnancy anyway and everyone thought that their relationship was the same as before but with the usual lovers' tiffs.

Most of the team had to go for a mission that morning, and she helped load the jet with all the necessary supplies the night before, using her telekinesis. Nobody noticed that an additional empty crate had been loaded into the jet.

She was to open the hanger door as soon as they took off, and shut it, as per the usual procedure. When everyone had boarded the jet, she said goodbye to him before heading towards the control room of the hangar. However, she did not enter the room but only used her telekinesis to open and shut the door of that room. Instead, she ran straight towards the emergency exit at the side of the jet which had also been left ajar the night before and which was at the blind spot of the pilot's view. Using that exit, she snuck into the jet just as it was starting to move.

The whole plan was extremely risky but if the timing was right, it was certain that she could get inside unnoticed very easily, which she did. To her, it was staying in the jet without anyone noticing that could become extremely tricky.

Making sure that the hangar door was opened first by using her telekinesis to flip the manual override switch at the side of the door, she then made it to the cargo hatch inside the jet as stealthily as possible. Her heart was pounding very loudly as she felt and heard the engines of the jet roar to life. She climbed into the crate and closed her eyes in anticipation of the jet taking flight. She had to really take note of that moment because she needed to use her powers again to close the door of the hangar otherwise he would start getting suspicious.

She actually felt elation as she felt the lift off. Part one of her plan was a success!

She fought to stay awake in the dark box, to remain alert at all times in case someone discovered a stowaway on board. Thankfully nobody entered the cargo hatch.

Before long, she felt the jet landing. The destination was near Washington D.C. and the next part of her plan was to get to the international airport at D.C. to catch another flight out of the country. She had her passport and some money in the jacket that she wore, and she knew she could easily get more money from the inheritance that her late mother had left to her, which were all safely deposited into various accounts in Europe. She needed to start a new life elsewhere, without him around.

She waited for a while before leaving her hiding place, to be sure that everyone else had disembarked. She had also left him a short note which was penned quickly the night before, in her bedroom back at the homebase. It didn't say much except that she was sorry to have to leave, but she wanted peace in her life and in their child's as well. It took some effort to write, because of the emotions within her. But at the end of it, she felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her.

As she stepped out of the jet and hid amongst the trees, she felt free and the future seemed a lot less bleak from that moment.

…

She looked at the baby in her arms and thought about him again. She never stopped dreaming about him every night when she slept. She missed him, but she welcomed being a normal person again, and she knew that those feelings of serenity would be gone instantly should she return to him.

He had not found her since the time she ran away. Sometimes, she wondered if he even bothered looking, or did the many battles he was waging against humanity simply distract him.

He was now in prison, because of the assassination of JFK and in a way, she was glad that she no longer had to fear him finding her.

Today was another milestone in her life; the birth of their baby, and whom she was giving up for adoption. The child deserved a set of happy normal parents, not a semi depressive spoilt princess who was incapable of raising a child on her own and definitely not a homicidal megalomaniac psychopath who was in jail for an uncertain duration. It made her sad to think about how the both of them used to joke about him being a homicidal psychopath, and how that was really far from the truth.

She couldn't tell if their baby was a mutant, but she knew that the girl was beautiful and had his eyes. She named her Lorna and requested that whoever adopted her use that name as well, whether as a first name or middle one.

She had been living in Paris since she left him, and had been writing again. She left her book at the Brotherhood homebase as a parting gift to him, and hoped that he would understand why she had chosen to leave him. She wondered sometimes if she would see him again, and if she did, whether she would be strong enough to walk away. Seeing that he was being incarcerated for an indefinite period, the chances of meeting would be less. But her heart never failed to beat faster whenever she read about him in the papers or heard about him from random strangers discussing the news. While she never stopped thinking about him , not once did she regret her decision to leave him.

It was a month after she had given birth and given Lorna up for adoption when she came face to face with the very people he had been trying to protect her from. She was on her way back to her flat when a group of men grabbed her into an alleyway and injected a huge dose of tranquilisers into her arm. Sleeping for several hours, she finally awoke in a sterile and empty room, her hands and legs all cuffed to a bed.

At first she wondered if her capture had been linked to him somehow, but upon seeing the people involved, she decided not. She felt pain and agony each day as they tested on her and whenever she tried using her telekinesis to protect herself, they would inject her with tranquilisers. Internally she screamed to Charles for help. He never responded to her cries and she grew despondent about being rescued.

Her captors also turned to using electrical shock treatments on her mind, and she soon forgot how to access her telekinesis, who she was and why she was there. She only remembered her name as Clarice Delvaux, and a small man named Dr Trask who would always smile warmly each day as he saw her, telling her that she was helping greatly in his research. She thought that he seemed nice.

...

_A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed the story so far. It's moving along towards "Days of Future Past" really soon, and I'm trying to find time to post the remaining chapters as fast as I can._


	21. Chapter 20

She could not remember how long she had been living inside the room, and whether she had family outside of that place. She only knew that she was Clarice and that Dr Trask really appreciated her help. He told her one day that he would be bringing her new friends and she thanked him politely in French.

The new friends came but were locked in other rooms. She only saw them in passing as she walked past those rooms to the main laboratory. One of them looked strange, a man in red and with a tail like the Devil, and he seemed to recognise her. He tried to speak to her as she walked past him back to her room but she did not understand what he had meant when he said, "Magneto and Mystique missed you when you left."

Those names or references did not ring any bells in her head. Did she know that red man to begin with? She only smiled at him politely and she saw some tears in his eyes as he realised that she had no memory of him.

The red man and the new friends soon disappeared and she asked Dr Trask one day where they had gone. He only smiled and said that they had to leave because they had outlived their utility. She recalled asking him if he would do that do her as well some day. He said nicely to her that she would always have a place at his research centre.

She was rereading her favourite book of French poetry when three men burst into her room. Two of them looked vaguely familiar but she did not know their names or where she had seen them.

The one with longer hair and kind blue eyes exclaimed first, with tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry for not being able to rescue you when I first heard your cries for help Charissa. I tried my best but I could not locate you."

The other man who was taller and who had intense and fuming eyes asked angrily, "Did they hurt you? And what about the baby?"

The long haired man looked surprised at the mention of the word "baby".

She could only stare at them vacantly and ask, "I'm sorry but do I know you? I think you've gotten the wrong person. My name is Clarice, not Charissa."

"What's wrong with her Charles?"

"I'm not sure, she seems to be suffering from a form of amnesia."

A stockier gruff man with the two suddenly interjected, "Let's just get her out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

"Did Dr Trask send you to bring me to the testing lab?"

"They've brainwashed her. I'll kill them for this." The angry man said venomously and she felt alarmed by his hatred.

"Do not speak Erik. Clarice, my name is Charles and I would need you to follow us quietly outside ok? We have to take a plane, and I will explain more when we get to the plane."

She liked Charles instantly because of the gentle way he spoke to her, similar to a father to a child, so she readily gave him her hand as he reached out for her and led her outside. She saw the two guards outside on the floor unconscious, and asked nervously, "Are they ok?"

"They're just taking a break." The gruff man said with a laugh.

"Don't worry Clarice, it will all be fine." Charles reassured her again while squeezing onto her hand.

…

They brought her to a private jet and she found a seat in the middle.

She saw the gruff man take a seat near the back while the other two men began to argue as soon as the plane took off.

"How did you lose them?" the angry one questioned the longer haired man named Charles.

"The treatment for my spine affects my DNA." His reply was calm but she could see the other man bristle with anger.

"You sacrificed your powers so you could walk? If you still had your powers now you would be able to help Charissa," the angry one said incredulously.

"I sacrificed them so I could sleep! And I did my best to locate Charissa previously but only to reach a dead end each time. What would you know about wanting to forget? In my dreams I could still hear her former screams for help."

"I've lost my fair share. I lost Charissa too."

"Dry your eyes Erik. It doesn't justify what you have done. Because you had been locked up, you were also useless to her."

"You have no idea what I have done."

"I know that you took the things that mean the most to me." Charles raised his voice then.

"Maybe you should have fought harder for them!"

"If it's a fight you want Erik, I will give you a fight."

She felt alarmed at that, and looked towards the gruff man for help. He stood up then and told Erik to sit down but Erik motioned to him to let them be, saying "Let him come."

Charles grabbed Erik by his shirt and she shrieked with fear as Charles lost his temper then, "You abandoned me! You took both my sisters away and you abandoned me!"

"Angel, Azazel, Emma, Banshee. Mutant brothers and sisters… all dead! Countless others have been experimented on, butchered! If not for her powers, your own sister would have been dead as well. Where were you, Charles?! We were supposed to protect them! Where were you when your own people and your sister needed you? Hiding! You and Hank, pretending to be something you're not! You abandoned us all!"

The plane started tilting and shaking while Erik spoke and it was when the plane started to nose-dive that she really screamed. Whatever it was that Erik was doing immediately halted.

Charles only looked at Erik with disgust as he went towards her, and apologised for their behaviour. Erik also walked to her and Charles stopped him by saying firmly, "Stay away from her for now Erik. You're not exactly a calming influence at this moment. We'll sort out our disagreement later."


	22. Chapter 21

Charles held onto her hand and asked her gently, "Are you feeling all right? I know you must be curious as to what's going on…I'll do my best to explain, but firstly, do you have any questions?"

"Who are you all? Are you all like me? Dr Trask says I am unique and can heal fast."

"Yes Clarice. We are all mutants like you but unfortunately I do not have my powers right now because of a certain medication that I've been taking for my spine. I'm sorry you had to see Erik and I fight earlier. We were having several disagreements over certain events in the past. I'm your older brother, Charles Xavier, and we have another sister Raven. Your real name is actually Charissa Xavier, not Clarice Delvaux I'm afraid. Some people from Trask Industries had kidnapped you previously and erased your former memories somehow."

She tried very hard to absorb what he told her. She didn't disbelieve him because she felt that she could trust him somehow, but it was difficult to believe in something different from what she had been accustomed.

She decided to talk about something else then, "What are your powers previously? And what about Erik and er…sorry I do not know your other associate's name."

Charles smiled then, "Our other associate's name is Logan. Logan can also heal fast like you, and he has claws hidden inside his hands. As for Erik and me, I used to be able to read other people's minds and Erik can manipulate metal."

"He seems very angry."

Charles looked sad at that moment, "You don't remember him either?"

She shook her head. "Both of you look familiar, but I can't remember anything about you. Is Erik our brother as well?"

"No. Erik was a close friend of mine once… and…he was your.." Charles tried searching for an appropriate word.

"Husband and father of your child." Erik interjected.

"We were married?" she asked in surprise.

Charles looked annoyed at being interrupted.

"We were about to be married. Can you remember anything about our baby?"

"I'm sorry…I don't. I don't remember being pregnant or giving birth either. Dr Trask didn't mention anything to me about a baby as well."

He looked visibly upset at that point and she nearly jumped out of her chair when he used his ability to crush a metal flask that was in front of them.

"Erik, please control your anger. You're not making this any easier for Charissa." Charles pleaded with him and she could see Logan rolling his eyes then and muttering, "So you've always been an asshole."

"Charles, I wish to speak with her alone please." Erik asked and Charles turned to her then, "Are you comfortable with that Charissa?"

She nodded and then Charles walked to the cockpit.

Erik glanced at Logan, who was busy reading the day's newspapers, before he held onto her hand and spoke softly to her in German.

"It's ok that you don't remember me Charis. I'm sure that you will one day. We lived together for more than a year and loved each other very much. I'm sorry that I didn't manage to protect you like I promised. I wanted to resume my search for you once I'd finished with my business in Washington, but I was put away for something that I did not do."

"Search for me?" she repeated, puzzled at his choice of words.

"We fought over my work and you ran away as a result even though I assured you that I would be there for you and our baby. I tried looking for you and even engaged Charles' help but we did not know where you had gone to. You were stubborn and did not want to be found so easily. While I was in prison, I thought of you constantly and hoped that Charles could do his part to find you in my stead. I know it's not his fault that you could not be found and I am sorry for lashing out in anger earlier. Trask had hidden you away well."

…

She wasn't sure why they were conversing in German but again it felt familiar, as if she and him and spoken many times previously in that language.

It also felt strange to hear about a life that she never remembered. She began to be worried that there was a baby involved of whom she could not recall anything.

"Do you think that the baby is ok?" she found herself asking him and he replied in what sounded like a whisper, "I am not sure… we'll find out soon. I will see to that myself."

"How old will the baby be now?"

"He or she should be ten years old."

"Oh. We have been separated for ten years?" she couldn't understand that concept. Why they were apart for so long and how they could have left a child alone for that same duration.

He must have noticed her brows furrowed together because he embraced her then and told her that everything would be ok now. They were together again and that's the important bit. She could only nod in reply. He seemed to care for her a lot but she could not figure out why she had run away from him to begin with.

Charles stepped out of the cockpit then and looked at Logan, asking not so discreetly, "Has he been feeding my sister with his lies?"

Logan only chuckled, "My hearing may be good, but I don't understand a word of German bub."

Erik also bristled at that comment, "I have never lied to her."

"Are we going home Charles?" she asked, not only curious about that question, but wanting to prevent another fight between the two men.

"No Charissa. We are going to look for our other sister Raven. She plans to kill Trask and we need to stop her."

She was upset to hear about that, "Why? Dr Trask has been nice to me."

"He has manipulated you and has been using you and many other mutants for his research. The other mutants have all died as a result. You survived his testing because of your healing abilities. He is developing some machines called Sentinels to kill us all." Logan informed her.

She gulped at that information and Charles assured her again, "You didn't know better, and he has wiped your mind clean so you would cooperate with him. He probably knew that you could put up quite a fight with your telekinesis."

"My what?"

"You can control things with your mind. Move things around. Don't worry, you will soon remember how to do that again."

Suddenly an old memory returned to her and she exclaimed, pointing to Erik, "You must be Magneto."

He looked worried however at what she said, "Yes, but you never once referred to me as that. In fact, you said it was a weird name which you could never get accustomed to."

"A red man told me that 'Magneto and Mystique missed me when I had left'. The red man disappeared from the labs a few weeks after." It then dawned on her what happened to him and she said sadly, "He must have died from the experiments."

"His name was Azazel. He was part of our team." Erik looked solemn as he told her that.

She then closed her eyes, feeling very drained at the stream of information that was being absorbed by her brain.


	23. Chapter 22

They left her alone and she fell asleep eventually, but she could hear them talk about her and about Raven before she drifted off.

When she awoke, she found herself curled up across two chairs of the plane and Erik sitting opposite her, his eyes closed. She stared at him for a while, and tried her best to remember him again. He must have realised that she was looking because he opened his eyes and she blushed then.

"I'm sorry." She said.

He smiled back tenderly at her and said, "You didn't wake me. I don't sleep well on planes. How are you feeling?"

"Still overwhelmed… Will Raven listen to us?"

"She may listen to you. She was close to you."

"How did you find out about her plans?"

He then explained to her how Logan was sent back to the past by his and Charles' future selves, to stop this event from happening because of the consequences that would arise as a result thereof. She couldn't help but widen her eyes at the complexity of it all.

"And Logan was the one who told you and Charles where I was being held captive?"

"Yes. My future self told him to tell us."

"Why? I don't think you would need me to help in this. Not when I don't recall how to even use my telekinesis."

"I suspect that I felt guilty and was being selfish when I told Logan that it needed to be done. Charles' future self did not stop me. He probably felt guilty too. I think that we wanted to end your suffering earlier. Logan said that in the future, nobody knows where you had disappeared to after you were rescued eventually. You choose to run away again." He said, looking visibly upset as he repeated the last sentence.

She wondered if he thought that he should have prevented that, or is going to try to prevent that now, now that he knows that something in the future was going to trigger her to leave again.

"Does Logan know who our child is and where he or she could be?"

"No. He was not aware of that fact either."

They soon reached Paris and got into a car which drove them to a hotel. The pilot, Hank, gave her some clothes to change into so she would fit in better with the crowd. She simply followed all four men who walked very briskly to a conference room in the hotel where she saw a huge mass of delegates running out in fear.

There was a lady in blue on the table in the room, shaking because of an electrical current that was attached to her. She herself shivered because it reminded her of something that had happened to her once in the Trask laboratory. Dr Trask was standing at the side looking shell-shocked and his aide Major Stryker was operating the machine.

"Clarice?" Trask started saying and Erik used his powers to move the electrical wires to attack Major Stryker instead. At that moment, Trask decided that it was better for him to flee the room.

She went towards the lady in blue and asked, "Are you ok Raven?" For some reason, she remembered the lady as her sister Raven. She even recalled that Raven had been very good to her in the past and she felt sad seeing Raven in that state of pain and shock.

Charles started holding Raven's hand, telling her that it's all right, and Raven smiled at the both of them, "Charles, Charissa, you're both here."

She felt a chill down her back as she heard a gun clicking and she turned to see who it was.

…

Erik was pointing the gun at her sister, saying that he needed to secure their future.

Raven started begging Charles to stop him, and she didn't know what possessed her at that moment but she stepped in front of Raven, to shield her from the gun.

"Charissa, get out of the way," Erik commanded.

"No Erik. This is not the way to change the future." She pleaded.

"You can't stop me. Charles has always been using you to stop me. I now understand your role here today." He snarled at her and fired the shot while Hank grabbed at the gun.

The bullet simply curved past her but Raven had run off at that point and jumped out of the window. Erik quickly followed Raven but she herself remained where she was, horrified and shocked at how aggressive her lover could be.

At that time, Hank had also transformed into a blue furry creature and leapt out of the window whereas Charles was talking to Logan who had a strange expression on his face.

She went to Charles and cried, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him."

Charles nodded and said, "It's ok Charissa. You did your best. Erik is just being himself."

"Was that why I ran away from him?"

He sighed and replied, "Maybe…I'm not sure about the details really….Logan….do you remember us?"

Logan suddenly looked like he managed to compose himself again and said, "Yes, Charles. Charissa…"

"Great, let's head out now and see if Raven has escaped." Charles said.

Thankfully she did escape, but Erik had also disappeared and Hank was stuck on top of the metal beams of the fountain below. He looked embarrassed at being the centre of attention and there was a slight mayhem as people pointed and stared at him. She saw some blood on the pavement and asked Hank if Raven had been badly hurt after Logan freed him from his metal bonds. Hank said that she only had a shot in her leg and had hobbled off in another disguise before Erik could kill her.

They then proceeded to a hotel to rest for a night and Charles said to her, "We'll be going home tomorrow Charissa."

For a strange reason, that felt comforting but at the same time, she also felt confused about Erik. She slept soundly that night but had a few nightmares involving him. The nightmares seemed familiar somehow, about an angry mob chasing him so they could kill him.

Throughout their journey back the subsequent day, she again thought about him and how dangerous he seemed. She remembered what he told her earlier while they were going to Paris, that everything was fine now that they were together. It was incongruous with him leaving her, just so he could attack and kill Raven. She decided that that was also what he had meant when he alluded to the fact that he had stopped his search for her because he went to do something else that had landed him in prison.

"Charles, why was Erik in prison for ten years?"

"He was implicated in the assassination of the U.S. President. He told us that he was trying to save the President but unfortunately was deemed as the accomplice. They locked him in a glass prison and we freed him because Logan said it would take all three of us to help Raven." Charles started rubbing his temples at that point.

She knew he felt frustrated at how things had been going and she tried to hold onto his hand to assure him that everything would be ok.

"The voices are coming back." He said aloud as he closed his eyes to rest.


	24. Chapter 23

When they returned home, she was rather shocked to see their family house looking neglected and uncared for. The size of the place surprised her initially but it was the state of the grounds and inside premises which truly stunned her. The gardens and fountains were overgrown with weeds and ferns, and there were empty whiskey bottles randomly strewn around.

"You were depressed Charles?" somehow, she understood the concept of depression even though she couldn't remember feeling that way during her days in Trask Industries.

"I was in a lot of pain. I felt helpless at being unable to locate you, and then when my students left because of the Vietnam war, useless at being unable to continue teaching them. And not being able to walk didn't help all that."

She stared at his legs then.

"Hank created the medication for my legs. Erik was right in a way when he said that I gave up my powers so I could walk and forget."

It was when they were at the parlour again that he suddenly slumped down clutching his legs in pain. Logan held onto him and Hank quickly ran off to a room telling him to hang on while he brings out the serum for his legs.

Hank soon came back and Logan tried to coax Charles not to use the serum. She felt unsure as to whether she should say anything but Logan looked to her for help.

"He's right Charles. We need you to use your powers again. I don't mind you not being able to help me all those ten years. It doesn't make a difference to me to be honest because I don't remember suffering in the labs. But now, we need you to help Raven. I think both of us can help her. And, we need to stop Erik from killing anyone else."

Charles then nodded resolutely and agreed to stop the medication, for Raven's sake. Hank brought his wheelchair out and they went with him to use Cerebro to attempt to use his powers again.

She felt his inner pain and suffering when he found his powers to be useless, and she was thankful that Logan was around to encourage Charles because she did not know what to say or do to help. Logan had let Charles look inside his mind, and whatever it was that Charles had seen, gave him renewed confidence to try reaching out to Raven again. And she felt herself cheer inwardly when Charles did speak to Raven, even though Raven still stubbornly refused to listen and return home.

"We need to go to Washington D.C. She's headed there now from Paris. Let's all just rest and fly to Washington tomorrow." Charles announced.

At that moment, Hank brought them to a room where he had been recording the recent news and pointed to them that there was going to be a showcase by Trask Industries to be launched at the White House in the next couple of days. It seemed very apparent to them all that Raven was going to be there for Trask.

After some more discussion about the time they were going to leave for Washington the next day, they finally disbanded to retire for the night.

Charles brought her to her bedroom and said to her, "I will help you regain your memories once we have this sorted out with Raven ok? I know that you must be very tired from all that has happened so far. Try to rest as much as you can tonight, and if you need anything, feel free to ask. My room is at the end of the hall."

"Thank you Charles. Have a good night."

When he left, she took the time to look around the bedroom to try and piece together her former life there. She knew from whatever Charles had filled her in, that she had left home to stay with Erik and his team. So she must have taken whatever meant the most to her with her then. There were still some old photographs of her childhood left in the room however, and she saw herself with Raven and Charles as children. There was even an old team photograph with Erik in it, and she thought that everyone looked so young and fresh-faced then. Even Erik looked less jaded and cynical, although only slightly. Charles' hair was neater and shorter back then as well.

After a nice hot bath, she fell asleep eventually while trying to remember the past but was awakened in the wee hours of the morning by a presence in her room. She felt extremely frightened and asked in a shaky voice who it was.

…

The lights turned on and she saw Erik dressed in a strange maroon attire and with a helmet on his head.

"I'm sorry for frightening you and for arriving in this manner, but we need to leave now. You can't stay here and I would prefer that you be with me. We shall be going to Washington D.C."

"Are you going to Washington to kill Raven?"

"No, I've met her and spoken with her in Paris. I even explained my initial motives to her but there are bigger plans now which do not involve Raven."

"I shouldn't leave Charles. He needs me here with him."

He narrowed his eyes and continued sternly, "We are leaving this place. I don't want Charles to keep using you as his leverage against me."

The use of that term "leverage" rang a bell in her mind somehow and she wondered what he would do to her if she continued to resist his request.

"No Erik. I am not leaving here." She insisted again.

He then closed his eyes in frustration and raised his arms. Soon, she felt a metal bar wrap itself around her, binding her wrists together behind her back. It was from the lamp next to her bed. Another metal bar wrapped itself around her two feet as he slipped one of his arms around her waist and the other under her knees to carry her. Using his powers, he then blasted a hole in the wall by removing the metallic frame of two adjourning windows.

"Forgive me for having to resort to this." He said as both of them levitated into the air and flew out through that hole.

"Charles! Charles!" she started yelling, hoping to at least alert her older brother that she was leaving.

Erik then told her coldly, "If you're going to create such a commotion, I will wrap your mouth with metal."

She decided to keep quiet and looked back to her room. She saw that Charles and Hank had reached the window and were looking helplessly at her and Erik leaving.

"I'll be fine Charles. You take care." She thought, hoping that he would be able to read her mind then.

"You take care too. He won't hurt you so we don't have to worry about that. I reckon that he's going to Washington as well?" She heard Charles' voice in her head.

Erik seemed to figure out that they were speaking via telepathy because he was glaring at her with much annoyance.

"Yes. I can't say much now. He knows we are communicating. Goodbye Charles."

"Goodbye Charissa."

She closed her eyes then and just surrendered entirely to the crazy mutant who was kidnapping her to God knows where. It seemed as though too many things had happened to her in the course of past few days and she just needed a break. Maybe that was a reason why she had left in the past as well, to find some peace in her life.


	25. Chapter 24

He brought her to a dark looking hotel room, and told her to get some rest because they were catching a flight in the next few hours. He kept watching her like a hawk as if half expecting her to take off and leave.

She looked at him wearily and said, "There's no need to look at me like that. I'm your prisoner and don't have any plans to escape. Moreover, I don't have any money on me, and I don't know where we are or how to go back to the mansion. I'm really tired and just want to sleep."

He scowled at her then. "I didn't wish for things to become like this. I asked you to leave with me but you stubbornly and foolishly refused. The last time you were not in my protection, the humans took you away for their experiments. Do you think I can simply just leave you again? And with Charles this time? He can't even protect Raven in Paris, let alone you. You don't know what I've been through the past ten years without you. Everything that I'm doing is for you as well. It's to secure your future too."

"I may not remember the past, but I can still think straight. I've also been thinking that there has to be a good and valid reason to explain the very fact that I ran away from you, even though I told you I loved you and was pregnant with your baby. And I am guessing that the reason is to save our child and me from the path of destruction that you seem fond of walking on. So please do not tell me about how rotten your life had been the past ten years. I don't even have any memories of what happened before those ten years." She snapped at him then. She was not in the mood for arguments and had wanted to rest but he just kept pushing her buttons.

She closed her eyes and laid in bed after saying her piece. She was feeling rather angry with him as well. She heard him sigh and mutter to himself, "Still fond of having the last word".

She then felt the mattress move slightly as he lay next to her. She turned her back to him at that moment and hoped he would not start talking to her about anything else.

Fortunately, he didn't and she fell asleep very quickly.

She woke up shortly thereafter, screaming aloud because she had a nightmare about Charles and Raven being chased by an angry mob.

She felt Erik's arm around her, pulling her closer to him as he murmured to her, "Everything is ok. It's all just a bad dream." She didn't pull away and in truth, she felt very comforted to be close to him. It simply made her feel safe. There was a vague memory of her being with him in this manner previously and she could tell that he missed it as well, because he buried his face into her hair and hugged her tightly, telling her never to leave him again.

"Please give up your vendetta Erik. I will stay with you always if you do." She turned to face him and tried pleading with him.

He sighed in frustration and kept silent.

"Deep inside, you know that your future self had sent Logan back here to change the present, and it's to make you a better and happier person. From what Logan had said, you were not happy and were alone in the future. And since I run away from you again, you must have hoped that Logan could persuade yourself in this time to stop that from happening."

"Let's not discuss this anymore. We have a long day ahead tomorrow as well as a flight to catch. Goodnight." He replied stubbornly and turned his back towards her.

She knew then that it would be difficult to ever change his mind and therefore, she decided to give up for now and closed her eyes again to sleep.

…

He didn't really speak much to her the next morning. He woke her up after he had showered, changed and ordered breakfast. Once she was ready and had finished breakfast, he simply ushered her out of the door, into a taxi and they proceeded to the airport.

She saw that he had some documents and airtickets with him and just followed him quietly onto the plane. He held onto her hand while they were at the airport and she knew that he was thinking and strategising all the way.

She wondered what it was that he was planning to do at Washington D.C. but thought it better than to ask.

"If I told you to stay at a particular location and wait for me to return, would you attempt to leave instead?" he asked, but because it sounded more like a question to himself, she didn't think she ought to answer. He laughed to himself then and just shook his head.

"I don't like to make you my prisoner, but you simply won't listen and understand how dangerous the situation really is for us. Look at what happened to you when you ran away from me the last time. If not for your abilities, you would be dead like the rest of our team."

"Stop treating me like a child." She retorted. Somehow her replies to him have been getting bolder as well. Something inside her seemed to want to fight back against him, to resist his protection. It felt like part of her inner nature really.

He frowned at her and promptly decided to stop talking to her again. He still held onto her hand and she chose to look out of the window then.

Thankfully it was a short flight. They soon reached Washington within the hour and he promptly checked them into a hotel.

"Are you hungry?" he finally asked.

"No." she replied without looking at him.

He reached out to brush her hair back from her face, and looked at her in the eye, "Please just stop fighting with me."

That was his greatest weapon against her, she thought, his eyes and the way he looked at her crumbled the exterior structures that she had put around her heart. She had wanted to harden herself and be defiant to him as much as she could, to show him that she was displeased. But upon seeing the love that he had and showed towards her, the defences that she had mentally set up were quickly destroyed.

"Did we fight a lot in the past as well?" she found herself asking instead.

"Now and then." He said with a wry smile.

"About the same stuff?"

"Yes."

"You simply won't give it up?"

"It's not that simple Charis… if I give up fighting, and humanity succeeds in oppressing us, I would lose you as well."

"I do see where you're coming from but I can't constantly live on an edge like this. Even though I can't remember much about Trask Industries or my life before that, I recall feeling quite serene without my memories and I believe that that's what I really want – to be at peace. You need to let me go Erik. If you think that I will be captured again to be experimented on, then let me stay with Charles. He mentioned that he would want to set up his school again and with his powers back, he would be able to hide us from the humans."

"We should never need to hide ourselves!" he started to say angrily and she held his hand in hers to calm him down. That seemed to work because his rage dissipated then.

"Let me think through this. I have some matters to sort out here. After I'm done, perhaps you could go to Charles…" he said looking rather pained as he mentioned the last few words.

"He promised to help me restore my memories Erik. I do want to remember most of it again, especially the use of my telekinesis."

"Ok, I understand. Shall we have lunch now then? I'll order room service."

She agreed and they had a very pleasant lunch, much to her surprise. He talked to her about literature, history and other miscellaneous issues and he was very pleasant unlike his other persona whom she had come to realise was _Magneto_.

...

_A/N: Thank you again for those who have reviewed the story. Hope to see more reviews :) Am nearing the end of the story..._


	26. Chapter 25

He suggested taking a walk outside after lunch and she noticed that he was looking around the area, trying to plot something. It made her feel slightly uneasy even though he was still making small talk. He could sense her discomfort, and tried assuring her, "Don't worry Charis. Whatever it is that I'm planning to do here, wouldn't involve you in any way. It's to secure our future and stop the Sentinels from destroying all of our kind. I don't intend to hurt Charles either."

She nodded to acknowledge what he told her, but it didn't help soothe her nerves. She started to develop a headache somehow which made him concerned and he suggested going back to rest.

"I've been having a headache every day in the afternoons since I left Trask Industries," she murmured while resting her head against his chest as he put his arms around her to help her back to the hotel room.

"They could have been giving you electrical shock treatments every afternoon for the past ten years." He said, angered again.

When they reached the hotel room, he helped her onto the bed and gave her some warm water to drink.

She closed her eyes as she rested her head on the pillow and asked, "How did Charles and Logan rescue you from prison? I'm curious. Charles mentioned it was a glass prison below the Pentagon?"

He gave a slight laugh before responding, "Yes, I was in there slightly bored for the past ten years, in a room that contained no metal, meditating and reading most of my time. They sent another mutant, a young boy named Peter who could move extremely quickly to help get me out. I was initially surprised when I received a note from him in my food. It said 'Mind the glass' and after that, he broke the glass by simply vibrating it very rapidly with his hands. I climbed out and he ran out of the corridor pushing me along, to get past the guards. And then Charles and Logan met up with us. At that point, there was nearly a bloodbath because the guards had arrived with their plastic guns and bullets, but again Peter very quickly diffused the situation almost before the bullets even reached us. He moved the bullets away before they hit us. It's quite hard to explain and imagine without being there…"

She smiled then, "It sounds very interesting though. Do you think our child could be a mutant like us?"

He paused for a while, which made her open her eyes again to look at his expression. It was dark and pondering.

"I'm sorry to talk about that. Maybe I had never gave birth... I just thought about that random probability when you mentioned Peter…because you said he was a young boy."

He sighed then and while he still looked troubled, he said gently to her, "No need for apologies… If there's a need for that, I should be the one apologising. If I had taken more time to listen to your needs, if I could put aside my hate and anger back then, you wouldn't have left and we wouldn't be wondering whether our child had been born and where he is now. You told me that Hank had helped conduct a few tests on you, and he felt that there was a high chance the baby could be a mutant too."

"If you ever find our child….could you promise me one thing please?"

"Yes?"

"If he was happy with his life, and his adopted family, could you leave him that way…. When he grows up, and finds out about his abilities, he can then choose his path on his own. I don't want him to be forced into taking the same path as you."

He nodded solemnly in agreement, "All right. There should be freedom of choice for him."

"Thank you Erik. I'm also sorry that you and I can't work things out…. Maybe when I remember my past, things may change between us."

"No it won't. You were right when you surmised that you had left me because I refused to give up my fight. And I'm sorry that I can't give that up. I do believe that if I do, all of us will be killed by humanity because they are afraid of us. You're too important to me, and even if it means not having you by my side, I'd rather have that than to know that you're being hurt."

She felt sorry again for him and she could see why she used to feel so much for him. He had a vulnerable and tender side to him that he chose to show to her, and she reached out to him to embrace him not knowing that subconsciously, her body ached to be close to him. Having him in her arms stirred some former emotions within her, and she found her lips meeting his with a kiss that grew more and more passionate. His hands also moved down her back and towards her thighs and rather quickly, they were breathing heavily under the covers of the bed without their clothes. She hadn't been intimate with anyone else in the past ten years and feeling his muscular body moving against hers was good, as though she was taking a warm bath. She knew that being locked up the past ten years also made him yearn for the same physical contact that she craved, and maybe more so, because in the lovemaking, it felt as though he desperately needed to be inside of her. When they reached their climax together, a part of her memory was awoken and she remembered loving that man in spite of his flaws and enjoying how beautiful he made her feel with his touch. He whispered to her "I love you Charis" when he withdrew and simply held her body in his arms. She fell asleep with a smile on her face that afternoon.

…

They had dinner later in the evening and spent the night talking again about various issues that didn't involve his war. It felt as though they were making up for lost time and he reminisced about their past relationship. He told her how they had first met at the Xavier mansion and how she was not impressed with him because of a callous comment he had made, as a joke, to her brother about their family wealth.

"You actually said that? I can't recall but from your own description, you do sound like an ass." She laughed. "And you probably thought I was a spoilt princess. The mansion does look huge and intimidating though. When Charles brought me back a few days ago, I also was in awe. It's a shame that he hadn't bothered to maintain it because of his depression."

"Yes…I didn't expect him to take everything so badly. He was always the eternal optimist. You used to roll your eyes when he spoke about how things will get better…. You were more grounded I suppose. You said it was because you had to raise yourself when you were younger, whereas he had Raven with him for companionship."

"Really?"

"And you weren't exactly a spoilt princess. You were just irked at how Charles bossed you around the house especially when you had four more boys to take care of when we arrived." He laughed with genuine amusement.

She found herself laughing along with him, and he smiled wistfully then, "I'm glad to see you looking more at ease, and happier. We had better days back then."

"You know that it could all be back….as long as there's peace within you. But I don't want to keep harping about that again. You know my position, I know yours…. If there could ever be a middle ground between us, perhaps we could get together again." She shrugged. She wasn't sure about her feelings for him, but she enjoyed being with him even though she had forgotten about the past they once shared.

"I will miss you when you leave. But you need Charles to help you restore your mind. And I suppose now that his powers are back, he would be in a better position to keep you safe. He came to me one day in desperation, via his telepathy, to ask me if I knew that you were taken away. He had hoped it was one of my enemies so he could trace them down and rescue you. But I hadn't a clue who your kidnappers were and that really crushed me. I also told him to get Raven to help because she was good at tracking people. That was the only one time we spoke in prison and he never returned. Every minute in prison, I would just think about how you were and hope that Charles had indeed found you. It kept me going though, to want to get out so I could find those people and hurt them as much as they had hurt you."

"It's all over… I don't remember any pain or suffering… so you don't have to hurt any of them, not even Dr Trask. You can destroy the labs if you wish, so no more mutants can be used for their experiments. I survived because of my powers. The rest were not so fortunate. Although I can't remember us together….I know you still care a lot for me, and I think I still care for you. I hope that you will be careful and not let hatred consume you Erik." She said as she held onto his hand.

He nodded and leant towards her, letting his lips caress hers with a soft kiss. She responded and they just held each other in their arms that night, before drifting off to sleep.

She woke up with a throbbing headache the next day and was alarmed to find herself alone in bed. She checked the clock in the hotel room and found out that it was nearly eleven. Why did her head hurt so much? She wondered, only to find the answer sitting on the table. There was a bottle of sleep medication and two unused syringes. She went to the bathroom and found a used syringe in the trash.

The bastard. He must have injected her with sleep medication early in the morning so she would sleep in. But unfortunately for him, he wasn't sure how much would affect her and keep her asleep for a long enough duration, given her mutation.

_Magneto_ is a real arsehole, she thought again as she tried to think through quickly where they had been the day before, to figure out where he had gone and what he was up to.


	27. Chapter 26

It didn't take her too long to figure it out because it was on television – Trask Industries was going to launch the test Sentinels in the next half an hour.

She grabbed the coat he had given to her the day before and rushed out of the room, to get a taxi to the White House.

Thankfully she reached the White House in less than twenty minutes and most of the guests had settled in. The band was playing and it looked like the President would be making his opening address soon. There were guards stationed at the event and she had to think fast as to how she could get in. She tried looking for Charles, Hank and Logan frantically.

"Charles….where are you?" She tried projecting her thoughts as best she could, while scanning the area for her brother and friends.

"Can I help you Miss?" a kind looking young man in army uniform tried asking her.

"I'm looking for my older brother. He's in a wheelchair and took my invitation card by mistake. Somehow we got separated after I parked the car." She fibbed.

The stranger seemed eager to help a damsel in distress and he offered to get her into the premises to look for Charles. She took on the offer readily and she saw Charles from afar, his hand on his temples. She knew that he was using his powers, probably to locate Raven.

"There he is." She said pointing towards Charles' direction. "Thank you so much for your help sir." She said again and walked briskly to Charles.

Before she could reach him, she heard screams and saw shots being fired by huge robots which she figured must be the Sentinels. Although afraid, she thought they looked impressive.

She felt a great sense of foreboding as she saw darkness clouding over them. She looked up and _Magneto_ was floating in the air with a football stadium which she recognised as the one near their hotel.

Damn. She had to admit that she was slightly impressed with his elaborate and dramatic plan.

"Charles!" she yelled.

He turned looking surprised, before telling her, "Raven is disguised as one of the secret service men. She still plans to kill Trask. They have all escaped into the White House. Can you try to stop Erik while I get to her?"

"The arsehole drugged me otherwise I would have reached here earlier." She cursed aloud to Charles.

Before Charles could reply, the football stadium fell onto the ground and trapped them all. Some debris had fallen off from the football stadium and pinned Charles down to the ground.

Logan and Hank, who had turned into the Beast, sprang towards Magneto. He had at that time told the Sentinels nearest to Hank and Logan to do what they were made to do. Thankfully, Hank managed to divert the Sentinels away from them and Logan continued to run towards Magneto. She tried helping to move the debris that was on Charles but it was too heavy for her to lift. Charles urged her to go help the other men deal with Magneto instead. Giving up on lifting the debris, she decided she should do what Charles told her to, attempt to talk Magneto (if it were even possible) out of whatever attack he was planning.

By that time, Logan had metal beams impaled into his skin and was being lifted into the air. After the megalomaniac had flung Logan far away into the sky, he turned and focused his powers on the White House and she felt the ground shake.

"Erik! Please stop!" she screamed at him but he ignored her completely.

Not caring about her own safety, she ran towards him but before she could reach him, she felt two metal tentacles bending out from some debris nearby, reaching towards her and pulling her back.

"Stay away Charissa. It's too late for you to stop me." He growled at her.

She watched in horror as the Sentinels started to shoot at Hank. Hank leapt and bounded to avoid the bullets and eventually hid inside some of the cars that were parked in the compound.

…

At that point, Magneto had unearthed the bunker that the President and his aides had hidden in and she saw the President coming out, to attempt to talk terms to him. She suspected that it was Raven in disguise and she just tried her best to focus on the metal beams that had pinned her down, to attempt to use whatever telekinesis that was supposedly inside of her. That was the only option available to her anyway. She felt a strange pain inside her head as she saw the beams slowly peel away, and a sense of pride growing inside her at her success.

She couldn't tell what Raven was saying to Magneto and she looked aside to see if Hank required her assistance first. She wasn't sure what he did but the Sentinel no longer looked interested in killing him. She thought that she should then act fast, to stop Magneto instead before the Sentinels started attacking her.

Everything moved extremely quickly at that point in time. Before she could reach them, Raven had fired a shot at him, knocked him down and started aiming her plastic gun at the people in the bunker. The Sentinels also stopped in their tracks then.

She couldn't help but scream as the memory of her former recurring nightmares returned to her. It felt as though she was inside the nightmare as she saw him fall onto the ground and she dived as quickly as she could towards him, to hold onto him.

Upon seeing that his wound was only a light graze across his neck, she felt instantly relieved. He was still unconscious from the blow Raven had dealt to him earlier, so she continued holding onto him, not caring if other people thought she was his accomplice in his crazy murder attempt. Something had also made Raven change her mind about killing the people, because her sister dropped her gun after some time. She could only guess Charles must have had a hand at it.

"Charissa, remove his helmet please." Raven shouted to her and she did as she was told.

"Charles, he's all yours." Raven said again, and walked away.

Erik opened his eyes immediately and had a strange expression on his face as he stood up, waved his hands at Charles, and the debris on top of Charles moved away. Erik also looked surprised to see her, and blinked several times as though uncertain about whether he ought to be alive. Charles must be using his powers to manipulate him.

"Do you want to go with him Charissa?" Charles' voice was in her head.

"No, I'll go back with you. He looks fine." She replied as she started to get up.

Erik grabbed onto her hand then, with a pleading expression on his face. She shook her head, and said, "I'm sorry. I need to go home. You take care."

He nodded slightly and looked towards Charles at that moment, "You know I'm as good as dead if you leave me with them."

"I know Erik. Goodbye."

"Goodbye old friend." Erik said and then flew up into the air.

"Come on Charissa, let's go as well." Charles said as Hank helped him back onto his wheelchair. She felt some tears forming in her eyes as she went towards the two men and left with them.

Back on the plane, she couldn't help but feel sad that she would not be seeing him any time soon. In a way, she missed him even though he had kidnapped her.

"Everything ok Charissa?" Charles asked with concern.

"It's funny but I miss him."

"What happened when he brought you away?"

"He took me to a hotel near the football stadium that he had lifted into the air. He was quite nice to me except for this morning when he drugged me in my sleep. We talked about the past alot, or rather, he told me about our past. And he is very different when he was not being Magneto. I can see why I loved him once. But I told him that I could guess why I had left him. It was probably because I couldn't keep on living his sort of terrorist fugitive way of life."

Charles nodded in agreement and told her that he would help her regain her memories once they got home.

She felt strangely at peace at hearing the word "home" and looked forward to a nice warm bath and a good sleep in her bed.


	28. Chapter 27

Two weeks passed quickly, and she found herself remembering more and more about her past after each therapy session with her brother. She also helped him clean up their house as he and Hank recalibrated Cerebro and started recruiting again.

Every night however, she would go to the gazebo to think about him. The more she remembered him, the more she missed him. To her, he was not fundamentally evil but simply had too much hatred inside of him for humanity. He couldn't bring himself to believe in the good of people, and that in time to come, they would accept mutants as well. It could be a result of him personally witnessing how man could discriminate and oppress people of a different race during the Holocaust. So while she understood and empathised with him, it was difficult for her to choose to walk the same path with him, especially not while it was fraught with danger and uncertainty.

She was sleeping one night when she felt a hand touching her face gently. It was enough to make her wake up instantly, and she came face to face with him. He was sitting by the side of her bed, looking slightly mournful and also smiling as she awoke.

"I'm sorry to enter your room like that…I had to see you again. I missed you…" he started to say but she cut him off by embracing him tightly and kissing him on his lips. He never got to say what he had meant to, because they both fell asleep after making love and he was gone by the time she woke up in the morning.

She wondered if Charles even knew about the visitor that night. It felt like a dream to her and made her heart ache even more.

By the end of the month, all her memories had returned and she was glad that she remembered Lorna as well. She thought that she should let him know at the next possible chance that their child had been adopted and was growing up in a less dysfunctional family than what they both could offer. He never returned however and she found herself getting more and more used to being alone again as the days passed.

As such, she spent most of her time helping Charles set up his school and even taught a few of the new students how to control their abilities. Once, she had asked Charles about Logan and whether he would be joining them soon. Charles only smiled and said that Logan would meet them in time to come. She worried about Charles being alone and knew that he felt the same about her own situation.

Her brother attempted to ask her about it one day and she found herself telling him that she wasn't over Erik yet and doubted she could ever get over him even though it wasn't healthy. Charles then admitted to her that Erik had been in touch with him about recruitment issues, and again they had resurrected their former pact on evacuation should either bases get attacked.

"I haven't seen him for a few months. How is he?"

"The same. He asked about you and whether your mind has healed. I told him yes, and also passed him the message about your child Lorna. I could see that he felt conflicted about wanting to see you and also carrying on with his business. He told me that he had also found Lorna but had never spoken or made any contact with the child because of his promise to you."

Upon hearing that, she nodded sadly and tried her best not to cry. Charles patted her shoulder sympathetically and squeezed her hand.

"Would it be better if you went to him again? You were happy with him the last time you were with him. And you left only because you were pregnant. He misses you too."

Shaking her head, she said, "Each time when he leaves for whatever mission he is involved in, my heart breaks. Knowing that he is out there killing innocent people also tears me up inside. I think I am better off not being with him, even though I do miss him."

"I understand…but you need to find someone else to love and to take care of you too."

"So do you dear brother….so do you…."

Charles smiled at her reply and wisely left their conversation at that.

…

Another year passed and she accepted the fact that she would likely grow old at the Xavier Mansion with her brother and Hank, helping young mutants cope with their powers.

They never saw Raven again either, and sometimes she wondered if Raven had rejoined Erik's cause. She asked Charles about whether he felt the same and he only smiled saying that he doubted it. Knowing Raven, she wouldn't be able to trust a man who had attempted to murder her, even if it was for a greater good.

Their team had grown in number as well, and even Peter Maximoff, the young teenage boy who had rescued Erik from his prison cell, joined them recently. She found Peter slightly intriguing, and confided in Charles that there was something about the boy who reminded her of Erik. She never really figured out what it was though.

Sometimes at night, she would startle in her sleep and look around her, hoping that he had returned. But she would always be alone. She wondered as well whether he had found someone else, and moved on. In a strange way, she thought he deserved a partner like Emma, someone who was able to fight alongside with him and be there for him as well. But he could have formed the view that being in love would only make him weak, and distract him from his goals.

There was a day when she thought she heard his voice inside Charles' study, and she stopped herself outside of the room, contemplating if she should go in. To just see him, talk to him or for other reasons, she wasn't sure. She willed herself to walk away in the end, feeling the heart ache but fully aware that it was the best thing to do. She didn't need him to get inside her head again, to make her leave Charles and her peaceful life, for something that wasn't sustainable in the long run. However, she wasn't able to stay away for too long, and ended up hiding herself around the corner, to just see if it was really him who was inside.

After some time, the door opened and she saw him walking out with Charles. He looked older, more weathered but still had the stern and hardened look in his eyes. Seeing him from afar satisfied her, and she walked towards her room. She thought she heard them mention "Charissa" in their parting conversation but she never turned back.

She turned on the radio in her room, and smiled to herself as she heard the lyrics to a song being sung:

"But of all these friends and lovers

There is no one compares with you

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I love you more*"

It summed up what she felt then, that he was the only one in her life that she loved dearly and she thought about whether she would be with him to love him again, once he is at peace with himself. Whenever that would be, only the future would tell, but at least she knew that she was able to move on with her life even without him by her side.

_*Taken from __Beatles - "In My Life"._

_..._

_A/N: This is the final chapter, but I have also written an Epilogue. It'll be posted soon, after some editing. Please let me know what you think of this story so far, thanks!_


	29. Epilogue

_Present day_

He saw her from afar every time he went to speak with Charles, and was always glad to observe that she looked well. He knew that deep inside he was using Charles as excuse to see her, and Charles probably was aware of that fact as well. It took great effort for him to leave her the last time he had met her in her room at night, and as a result, he vowed never to do that again. If he was still fighting on for mutant superiority, he could not have her in his life. She was a distraction and she made him weak. Damn that Charles for keeping her nearby as leverage.

He also knew that the last time he went over to meet Charles for official business, she was outside Charles' study, uncertain as to whether she should go in to meet him face to face. Charles made it a point to tell him about that while she was hovering outside the door. He knew Charles was hoping that he would give in and see her. Charles was forever the peace maker, and wanted the best for his own sister. He personally wouldn't know how he would have reacted if she had made the decision to enter the study that day. He actually felt relieved that she chose to walk away in the end, it was all for the best even though he did miss her...

…

_Fifty years into the future_

Logan woke up at the X-Mansion, surprised to see a future that was not the bleak one that he had left to change. He walked out from his room and saw Beast, who greeted him and said "Late start Logan? You're supposed to take over Dr Lehnsherr's class at ten."

Dear God! Did the future turn into one where even Magneto was also teaching at the school? Logan was flabbergasted and slowly made his way to find the Professor.

He saw Jean and Scott at the Professor's study and after getting over the fact that Jean was still alive, he tried to ask the Professor questions but stopped when the Professor interjected with his own question instead, "Logan, don't you have a class to teach?"

"Ah…yes…Hank said I was supposed to take over Dr Lehnsherr's class today?"

"Mmm, yes…History." The Professor answered without much thought.

"_Magneto's _a History teacher?"

The Professor stopped whatever it was that he was in the midst of doing, and looked at Logan.

"Erik died six months ago, Logan. We all attended his funeral. Are you all right?"

At that moment, a familiar looking brunette with bright blue eyes came into the room, looking annoyed.

"Logan, you promised to be the sub for my class today! Hank said you woke up late and he's offered to do that instead."

"Charissa?"

She didn't look much older from the time that he had left her in1973, and wore her hair in the usual pony-tail. It was then that he remembered that one of her mutations was the same as his, and as such, aging was a much slower process for them.

"Is something the matter Logan? You have a strange expression on your face." She asked concerned.

"Charissa…Logan's not himself. Let me try to speak with him alone. Please go ahead with what you were planning to do." Charles requested politely.

Charissa nodded and walked out.

"To be honest I need some help with History, Professor."

"Welcome back…" it finally dawned on the Professor what had happened to Logan. "Tell me what you last remember."

"I remember drowning…"

The next few hours he spent with the Professor catching up on all the time that had passed since 1973 to 2023. He found out that Magneto finally came around to their side five years ago because he had terminal illness and wanted to just be with his loved one, Charissa. She had completed a PhD in Literature and European History by that time and spent the last five years married to him, living in a cottage at the edge of the mansion's sprawling grounds, and caring for him until he breathed his last breath. They had also reconciled with their daughter Lorna, and his other older children Peter and Wanda. Charissa only moved back to the mansion after her husband's funeral and resumed teaching.

"They were still in contact after 1973. They thought that nobody knew, but I was aware that he snuck back to the mansion now and then to meet her. It actually began when he came to meet me on official business, he would always spy on her from afar. It was sad seeing that they were stubborn about not being together because of their opposite ideals. So I didn't wish to intervene, even when they carried on their strange relationship, which actually began the day when he finally had courage to speak with her after an official meeting with me. Some of the students were slightly affected whenever they saw the two of them out on the grounds. But I convinced them that he was harmless, especially when he still loved her a great deal. He was not wrong to say that I had used my own sister as leverage against him… I was really glad for them to get married and for him to finally put aside his pride and fight, for Charissa. They had a good five years of marriage." The Professor said with some tears in his eyes, and a smile on his face.

Logan was only awe struck at how the couple managed to carry on loving each other for the past fifty years. But having remembered the trauma and suffering that Charissa had gone through, and what had become of her in the other future, he was happy for her to have her future rewritten into something like this. At least his efforts in 1973 had not gone to waste, and so many of his friends were saved as a result.

...

_A/N: And this is the end! I couldn't resist writing about what happened 50 years from 1973, and simply had to write in Logan's POV. Thanks for sticking around and reading the story up to here. I am toying with an idea about an AU involving Charissa as well, but not sure how that will turn out yet. So maybe there will be a sequel?_

_More notes: Thanks to all who've reviewed. I'm in the midst of re-writing a companion piece to the story from 1973-2023 but from Erik's POV. To reply to PrettyKittyPryde's comment, yes I have thought about a Logan/Charissa pairing but haven't exactly decided which direction to take on that. Thanks for letting me know your thoughts though. :)_


	30. Author's Additional Comments

Author's Notes:

Thank you everyone for reading this, and am just posting 1 final note to the followers of this story that I am now writing a companion to "Choosing to Leave". It's entitled "Remembrance" and is written from Erik's POV.

"Remembrance" is still work-in-progress but I have the rough storyline (which may change haha) in my head. Unfortunately also, due to my other commitments, I won't be able to update as quickly as "Choosing to Leave", but will do the best I can. Do bear with me on this.

Please also let me know what you think of both stories. Really really appreciated the kind reviews so far. Thanks again!


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